Etro's Keepers
by Tear of Light
Summary: With the fall of Cocoon and the disappearance of their brands, Lightning and the former l'Cies thought they had lost their Eidolon partners forever. Now a year later, their Eidolons return. But not in the way they expected. Hilarity ensues. Post game. AU
1. Rude Awakenings

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: Here's my first attempt at something funny, cute and just plain fluffy. Unlike my current more serious fanfiction titled Tainted Fal'Cie, this story will not update on a regular schedule. This fic is unbetaed and all errors are mine. Updates will be, at best, sporadic and on the spur of the moment. As comedy is not my strong suit, expect OOCness from our heroes. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy the story, wherever it may go. XD _

_A __huge thank you__ goes out to denebtenoh for drawing up the cover for this piece. To see the original image, go here: denebtenoh[ pp ee rr ii oo dd]deviantart[ _ pp ee rr ii oo dd_]com/#/art/Battle-Partners-v-2-333304576?hf=1_

_*coughs* shameless plug *coughs*_

_And also, if you haven't read my other stories, I highly encourage you to do so, starting with __**Finding Home**__ followed by __**Tainted Fal'Cie**__. _

_**Warning:**__ There is some mild language in this chapter._

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

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><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 1: Rude Awakenings<span> ~ ***

Serah Farron smiled happily, snuggled deep in the soft fluffiness of her blanket. Morning was upon her, the sunlight now peering through the window and warming her face with its golden light. Soon, the smell of sizzling Gorgonopsid meat wafted to her nose, a tell tale sign that her fiancé and husband to be was already up and in the kitchen.

Despite having no talent whatsoever when it came to the culinary arts, the blonde giant known as Snow was not deterred from trying his hand at breakfast occasionally. Often his attempts to impress his already enraptured girlfriend and soon to be wife ended in the need of a fire extinguisher, and sometimes the whole New Oerba fire department, but that

did little to sway the youngest Farron's opinion of the NORA leader. To Serah, Snow was perfect in every single way.

Serah rolled over to face the opposite side of the bed, where a certain someone normally slept. But as he was preparing breakfast, all which remained of him was rumpled sheets and the smell of… well… Snow. Shimming herself across the bed to her fiance's side, Serah curled into the rumpled sheets and breathed deeply. A smile of pure, sweet happiness stretched across her sleepy face, Serah letting herself fall back to sleep inhaling Snow's scent.

With Orphan vanquished, along with Barthandelus and the other fal'Cies, things had significantly quieted down for the former l'Cies. Cocoon was crystal and the survivors now lived on Gran Pulse. Cocoonians showed a great resilience despite their pampered upbringing and quickly adjusted to the harsher and more exciting environment of the Gran Pulse wilderness.

Word spread quickly amongst the survivors about the government's corruption, and how they all would have been slaughtered had Lightning and the others not intervened. The former l'Cies were now heroes in the eyes of the people, a surprising yet welcomed change of heart considering they were public enemies number one not too long ago. And with that, their lives soon became peaceful again, the former l'Cies helping to rebuild New Oerba in memory of the two family members who were no longer with them.

But all of them should have known that peace would not last long.

A blood curdling scream.

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><p>Lightning Farron was normally a very light sleeper. Having been a part of the military for years, seeing more than her fair share of action, it was a habit she developed earlier on in her career as a soldier. You never knew when you'd be deployed next after all. Lightning trained herself to awaken at a moment's notice, in a complete state of awareness, the moment she felt the tiniest bit of danger lurking nearby. That ability had saved her life, and the life of her now extended family, many times now, especially put to good use when they were on the run as l'Cies months ago.<p>

So when she awoke in a daze on this particular morning, Lightning should have been alarmed. Concerned even, as she could not immediately remember the events from the night before. But as things were, she was not. Perhaps she had finally come to accept this quiet and admittedly boring life, along with the pure uneventfulness that came with it. Or perhaps she just had one too many shots at Lebreau's bar last night (as she was now starting to recall), when they all celebrated the bar's opening day. Either way, Lightning was not bothered. Yet something tickled at the back of her mind and she didn't know why.

The eldest Farron stared at the ceiling blankly, locks of pick hair partially obscuring her vision. Glancing around, Lightning was relieved to see everything was where she left it. Her gunblade was propped up against the side of her bed in sword form. The curtains were partially drawn, enough to let some light in to let her know when morning arrived. Hell, even the kitchen was spotless and all dishes were hidden in their respective cupboards and cabinets. But something still felt amiss.

Lightning sighed, bringing up a hand to her face, her fingers combing through her hair.

Then the blanket moved. Specifically the portion of blanket covering her chest, moved.

Lightning blinked.

The pinkette quickly glanced around the room before looking at her blanket covered chest again. Blue eyes squinted, critically inspecting the material which kept her warm overnight. When silent seconds passed by and nothing happened, Lightning sighed again and closed her eyes.

"Never again am I drinking Lebreau's mystery drink."

And the blanket moved again.

Blue eyes snapped open, Lightning's hand shooting out to grab her gunblade. She had felt it this time. Something moving on her well endowed chest. The same time the blanket shifted. Only now did Lightning realize there was a soft weight on her gracious bosom.

A soft, warm weight.

A soft, warm weight that moved.

A soft, warm weight that moved, again. This time, unprovoked by her movements.

And it made a sound. Like the sound of a yawning kitten.

Damn it. Lightning liked kittens. She thought they were cute. Not that the soldier would openly admit that to anyone. Even so, Lightning was as sure as hell right now that this was no kitten.

Shit.

With her heart hammering madly in her chest, Lightning slowly reached for the edge of the blanket. How this unknown entity snuck up on her without her realizing it, Lightning didn't know. She blamed that on Lebreau's fruity tasting, multi-coloured, foul smelling, concoction the woman made her drink last night as the reason for her dulled senses. If she survived this confrontation, Lightning would visit the raven haired barmaid to have a few choice words with her.

As her fingers clenched the edge of the fabric, Lightning unconsciously held her breath in nervous anticipation. But despite all the training she received as a soldier, and all her experience in the field, nothing could prepare her for what happened next. Before she could even finish the mental countdown in her head, something slid across her left breast and squeezed.

Lightning screamed.

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><p>"Claire!" Serah raced up the metal staircase faster than she had ever run before. Currently, she and Snow shared a house with her older sister, Lightning taking the upper floor as her primary residence with Snow and Serah taking the main floor. A metal staircase outside of the residence connected the two levels together. It was only a temporary arrangement, until the young couple could get a place of their own.<p>

At the entrance to Lightning's level, Serah yanked open the door, almost tearing it from its hinges. Never in her life had Lightning ever screamed like that, as of the grim reaper himself was hacking her to pieces. Not even when their neighbour's son's girlfriend's aunt's chocobo's chick that Lightning thought was cute but wouldn't admitted it to Serah because of its weirdly coloured spotted white mohawk and pouty beak fell into a puddle and drowned, did Lightning scream. Which meant, whatever was attacking her right now, was something truly horrifying.

"Cla-Woah!" Serah slid to a halt just two steps through the door.

Inches away, Lightning sailed past the youngest Farron upside down in the air, in the middle of one of her signature flips.

"Holy mother of Etro!" came a deep voice behind Serah.

Snow, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers, found himself gawking at the sight of the eldest Farron in nothing but a large, oversized t-shirt and racy neon pink panties. He too had heard Lightning's scream, something that scared him more than he'd ever admit. But not having the quickness and agility that Serah had – a trait all Farron women seemed to have – it took him just a bit longer to navigate the hurdles that were the walls in his house before he lumbered up the stairs in hot pursuit of his fiancé.

The moment Snow stepped through the open doorway, he was immediately greeted with a pink blur darting across his line of vision, his eyes instantly locking onto Lightning's less than conservative underwear. Due to this distraction, Snow failed to notice Serah stopped in front of him and ended up bowling the smaller pinkette over when he failed to stop. Serah tumbled to the ground on her hands and knees with a yelp.

Lightning landed in a crouch to Serah's and Snow's right, the soldier flinching at this new intrusion. Her gunblade was instantly pointed at them in reflex, the weapon itself shaking in her hand, Lightning red-face and absolutely flustered. "S-Serah? Snow?"

Serah's eyes widened. Lightning was shaking. "Claire? What-"

A squeak from Lightning's bed caused the trio to turn and stare at the intruder. The heap of blanket on Lightning's bed shook and twisted, squeaks and growls sounding all throughout. Snow pulled his fiancé to her feet, moving to stand protectively in front of her fists raised. Lightning remained rooted in her spot, sweat drizzling down the side of her cheeks and the back of her neck.

Then the blanket ceased to move.

Everyone stared in frozen silence.

_RIP!_

In a flash of movement, something poked up from the middle of the blanket and sheared the material in half. There was a gust of wind and the two pieces of blanket shot up into the air, to either side, clearly revealing the thing which scared the living daylights out of Lightning.

Snow's jaw dropped. "Is that… Odin?" he said.

Peeking her head around Snow's large frame, Serah caught sight of their enemy. Though, maybe that wasn't the right word to describe it. The thing, dubbed Odin by Snow, looked to be a tiny white knight of some sort. Onyx and gold plating made up his armor. Yes, a _him_, as Serah noted the absence of a key feminine body part. Namely, boobs. In his left hand was a shield which matched his armor. And in his right, was an S-shaped jagged blade.

Lightning barely spoke of her Eidolon. With the disappearance of their brands, not only did their ability to wield magic disappear, but also their ability to call on their Eidolon partners as well. When Lightning did talk of her battle partner, Serah couldn't but feel a sense of awe and reverence for the Eidolon. The way Lightning described him was just… magnificent. And while Lightning's description of her partner matched that of what she currently saw, there was one notable... Well, there were a lot of notable differences between what Lightning described him to be and what Serah currently stared at.

Unlike the Odin which Lightning described as over fifteen feet tall, the Odin Serah stared at currently didn't even reach the height of Lightning's knee. Nor did he look like the tough and intimidating knight Serah expected him to be either. His features were soft, rounded and just plain cute. For a lack of a better word, this Odin was chibi-fied. Yes. That was the more appropriate term. Instead of mighty Eidolon Odin standing before them, here stood chibi Odin.

Serah squealed. "He is so cute!"

Lightning jumped at the sound of her sister's voice, her head snapping to the side only to find her sister gone. Snow looked back at Lightning, blinking.

"Ser-"

"Can we keep him Claire? Can we?" Serah was already half way across the room, nuzzling the chibi Eidolon against her cheek.

Chibi Odin squeaked. Lightning face palmed.

Snow couldn't but chuckle at the sight of his future wife cuddling Light's mini Eidolon to her chest. Serah always loved cute things, very much like Vanille did. It was no wonder those two got along so well. Two small forms peeked out from behind Snow's legs, curiously looking at the scene.

"If she likes Odin so much, maybe I shouldn't tell her about you two just yet" Snow said looking down at his feet.

Lightning made a disgusted sound, running a hand over her face. There was going to be hell to pay for this!

"Not the way you thought you'd wake up in the morning, huh Sis?" Snow smiled when he merely received a groan as a reply.

"Snow, if you tell anyone about this, with Etro as my witness…" Lightning didn't need to finish her words for Snow to know what she was threatening.

Snow chuckled, the former sentinel raising his hands up signalling defeat. "I won't, don't worry."

Lightning didn't believe his words one bit. "Tch."

Snow's eyes looked downwards, a grin stretching over the blonde's face. "Pink looks good on your Sis-"

Snow was ducking a gunblade even before he could finish his words.

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><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Kudos goes to DezoPenguin for inspiring the chibi Eidolons idea. After reading DezoPenguin's fanfiction called "Taking Wind" (which can be found here: (ffnet)/s/7025144/1/Taking_Wing), where in the My-Hime world, the characters' CHILDs ran around in chibi form, I just had to write a chibi Eidolon piece. The idea has been used with permission._

_If you haven't read DP's story, I encourage you to do so. It's just wonderful. XD_


	2. Babysitter

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: Back by popular demand, I bring you chapter 2! Wow! Thanks so much who have commented, favorited and added this story to your story alerts list. I honestly didn't think I'd get as big of a reaction to it as I did. ^^ But again, as I warned in the first chapter, don't expect this one to update on a frequent basis as compared to my other current FFXIII fanfic. I'll do what I can, but you may be waiting a bit longer for the next chapter for this one. But enough of that depressing talk, right? XD On to the story!_

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_Riku91 – Congrats on being the first reviewer of this piece. Hehe. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter despite this genre not being something you venture into. This idea has been lingering in the back of my mind for a while now, and finally I just couldn't take it anymore and had to write it. Lol. The whole chibi Odin in gestalt mode will come later, that I can promise you. So stay tuned for that. XD As for Serah, hmm… I definitely have a surprise planned for her, though not for a long time coming. It kind of relates to something that will happen in Tainted Fal'Cie, so I'll probably push that idea off for a long while yet. Thanks again for the comment! :)_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

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><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 2: Babysitter<span> ~ ***

"You too huh?"

Blue-green eyes looked up to meet brown ones. Hope Estheim stopped just short of the Farrons (and Villiers) residence, at the bottom of the metal staircase which led up to Lightning's level. On his shoulder sat chibi Alexander, the tiny Eidolon holding onto a tuff of silver hair to keep his balance.

Sazh Katzroy approached Hope from the left, he too making his way to Lightning's humble abode. Like Hope - Sazh suspecting the same happened with all of the former l'Cies - the old man woke up this morning only to find a chibi surprise of his own. Chibi Brynhildr, in her gestalt form, currently drove circles around Sazh's feet.

Thankfully for the pair, no one in town thought it strange to see chibi Eidolons. The chibis were easily mistaken for realistic replicas of their battle partners. In Hope's case, chibi Alexander was thought to be a scaled down toy model. For Sazh, chibi Brynhildr imitated a remote controlled toy car. Little did the townsfolk realize that was not truly the case. Nor did anyone ask where they got them from.

Hope chuckled wearily, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah" he said in relief. "I was a bit worried originally, that I was the only one in this… situation. But thankfully, I'm not."

Sazh smiled in understanding. "I'm sure there must be a logical explanation for all of this." He clapped Hope on the back. "I just don't know what it could be."

"Perhaps we can help ya out with that ol' man" said a voice behind the pair.

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><p>The upper level to the Farron residence had a simple layout out. A big rectangular room encompassing a bedroom, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and bathroom all in one open space. Walking through the door, to the left was Lightning's bed up against the far wall. Next to that and closer to the door was the couch, with the dining table which could seat six, just behind it. In line with the door on the opposite wall was the kitchen and off to the right was the shower stall, the vanity and the toilet. Along with some storage space.<p>

It was on her bed where Lightning Farron sat, completely garbed in her typical Guardian Corps uniform. Her arms were crossed over her chest with her right leg crossed over her left. To an outside observer, the sergeant looked rather peaceful and serene, deep in whatever thoughts occupied her mind at the moment. But to the former l'Cies, who were now all gathered in her house, Lightning was planning bloody murder.

"So let me get this straight" Lightning said finally breaking the awkward atmosphere.

On the couch nearby, sat Serah, Snow and Sazh. Hope sat at the dining table, along with the newly awakened Fang and Vanille, much to the others' delight.

"Etro, as in _the_ Goddess Etro-" Lighting began. Lightning's eyebrow twitched, spastically. The rest of the family looked to the soldier hesitantly. All except Fang who wore her signature grin.

" - freed you from crystal stasis early, in exchange for us baby sitting… _them_." Lightning motioned to all of the chibi Eidolons currently running amok in her house.

Chibi Brynhildr was playing tag on the kitchen countertops with the Chibi Shiva sisters, Stiria and Nix. Chibi Alexander was with chibi Hecatoncheir on the dining table, attempting to play a child's clapping game. Patty Cakes from the looks of it. Though with all of chibi Hecatoncheir's hands, that proved challenging. Chibi Odin and chibi Bahamut sat on the windowsill nearest Lightning's bed, having some sort of conversation which ended up with the chibi black knight patting the chibi white knight consolingly on the shoulder.

Fang's grin grew larger. "That's right Sunshine" the Pulsian huntress said. "I figured ya wouldn't mind that, as you'd be gettin' ta see us again." A smile.

"And just how long would we be watching them for?"

Vanille sweat dropped.

"She didn't say" Fang stated plainly.

Crystal blue eyes rose to meet emerald ones. Vanille swallowed unconsciously as Lightning glared at her Oerban partner. The last surviving Dia was certain that the look Lightning was giving Fang right now was not the _I'm-happy-to-see-you-again _kind of look, but rather more of a _I'm-going-to-kill-you-painfully-and-slowly_ kind of look. Though, that was just a feeling of Vanille's, really. Perhaps that had something to do with the flames which seemingly burned in the pinkette's eyes. Or maybe it was the steam seemingly coming out of Lightning's ears. Vanille couldn't decide.

"Right" was all Lightning said.

_CRASH!_

Everyone jumped in surprise.

"Brynhildr!" Sazh scolded. "Bad girl! No throwing peoples' dishes at each other! That's dangerous! Stop that!"

Chibi Brynhildr, now inside one of Lightning's dishes cupboards, lowered the plate in her arms pouting. For the past few minutes, the twins had tried to steal her weapon. So chibi Brynhildr climbed into the cupboard to escape from them. When they followed after her, she resorted to the only thing she could think of at the time. Throw the closest things to her at them. Namely the plates.

Chibi Nix and Chibi Stiria snickered.

"Girls" Snow said. "Behave."

The Chibi Shiva sisters actually had the decency to look sheepish, clasping their hands behind their backs and looking away shyly.

"Sorry about that soldier" Sazh said. "I'll pay for that." The old man walked into the kitchen and proceeded to pick up the shards of broken ceramics.

Serah elbowed Snow in the ribs.

"I-I'll…" Snow swallowed nervously when Lightning's gaze fell on him. "I'll talk to them about playing nice Sis."

"I'm not your sister" Lightning said through clenched teeth.

"Maybe not ye-" Snow's words were cut off when he suddenly found Lightning's gunblade in rifle form pointed at him.

The reaction was instantaneous. Chibi Stiria and Chibi Nix darted towards Lightning hissing and squeaking. At the same time, Chibi Odin leapt off the windowsill and dove in front of Lightning to intercept the twin sisters. What resulted after that was a full out brawl between the chibi Eidolons, with Chibi Bahamut joining into the fray because it looked like fun and Chibi Hecatoncheir joining into the mix to try and separate everyone. Chibi Brynhildr and Chibi Alexander looked at each other blinking.

"ENOUGH!" Hope slammed his fist down on the table causing a reverberating thud.

Following the lead of his battle partner, Chibi Alexander leapt high into the air and curled into a ball as tightly as he could. Soon gravity took hold and he cannon balled straight down amongst the brawling chibi Eidolons. The resulting collision created a sonic boom which sent Chibi Bahamut and Chibi Odin flying into Lightning's feet and Chibi Hecatoncheir and the Chibi Shiva sisters flying backwards into Serah's lap. Chibi Alexander, unscathed, crawled out of the now visible crater in the floor. Lightning remained unmoved from her spot. Crystal blue eyes now narrowed at the dent in the floor.

Hope cringed when he spotted the damage. "We didn't come here to fight" Hope stated, avoiding Lightning's gaze. "We came here to figure out what to do next."

"What is there ta figure out?" Fang said, leaning back in her chair. Balancing the chair on its two back legs, the sari clad warrior propped her feet up on the table. "The lil' ones will be around for a bit. That's all there is to it."

"_That's all there is to it?_" Lightning's murderous gaze turned to Fang.

Vanille and Hope shrunk away from Fang in fear for their lives.

"Now, now" Sazh said reluctantly. He swallowed nervously when Lightning turned to look at him. "Let's be rational now. While it's a bit of a shock to have these guys suddenly appear to us, nothing bad-"

Lightning narrowed her eyes at the broken dishes in his hands.

"- n-nothing horribly bad- " Sazh stuttered, "- has happened so far."

Fang nodded in agreement. "And even if somethin' bad were ta happen, all we'd hafta do is use this device thin' here-" Fang pulled out a standard communication device from under her sari, "- an' call up Etro. She'll fix thin's in a jiffy."

"Say what?"

Six heads snapped towards the spear wielder.

"You mean to say you can just call up the Goddess on that, and tell her to fix things?" Sazh said in disbelief. "Just like that?"

Fang nodded, twirling the communications device between her fingers. It was similar to the device she once used in Palumpolum when they were on the run as l'Cies. "This 'ere is Etro's emergency hotline" she said with a grin. "Though I should warn ya-"

"Give me that!" Lightning snatched the device from Fang's hand. She immediately opened it up and activated the call.

"Uh Light" Fang said. "About the Goddess-"

"Shut it Fang!" Lightning snapped. Her head immediately perked up when the line connected. "Etro, this is Lightning."

"Light-"

Lightning glared at the Pulsian, effectively shutting her up. "We need to talk about this arrangement you made with Fang" the soldier continued.

"She really gets to the point, doesn't she?" Snow whispered to Serah.

Serah bit her lip as she watched her sister. All of the chibi Eidolons had stilled in the movements as well and also watched the scene unfold.

"Excuse me?" Lightning said incredulously. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Serah cringed. That was not a good sign.

"For someone so powerful, why don't you say that to my face-"

Lightning disappeared in a flash of light.

"Claire!" Serah exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Don't be gettin' yer panties in a knot" Fang said. She sighed, shaking her head. "She'll be back in a moment. Though, in what state, I don't know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hope asked wearily.

Fang chuckled. "Etro ain't quite how most people think 'er ta be."

"What exactly do you mean by that Fang?" If Serah hadn't been concerned before, she certainly was now.

Chibi Bahamut and the Chibi Shiva sisters snickered. Chibi Odin grimaced. Both Chibi Alexander and Chibi Brynhildr face palmed.

"Fang?" A ball of anxiety formed in the pit of Serah's stomach.

"Let's jus' say the Goddess has an amusin' sense of humor."

No sooner had Fang said those words, there was another bright flash of light and Lightning appeared back in the same spot she was originally. The soldier looked completely unharmed and unruffled, except for one thing.

Lightning was stark naked.

Serah gaped.

With nothing but her gunblade in one hand and the communications device in the other, Lightning slowly raised her gaze to the others.

"I tried ta warn ya Sunshine."

Vanille's face went scarlet, the redhead immediately turning her gaze away and slapping a hand over Hope's eyes. Hope didn't protest, the silver haired boy too stunned at the moment to react.

Snow's jaw dropped, for the second time today, his vision immediately darkening when a red faced Serah slapped a hand over his eyes. Fang just laughed. Sazh was the only one out of all of them, who tried to help the soldier by immediately taking off his jacket and quickly draping it around her shoulders with his face turned away.

"Y-You can give that back to me later" he said quietly, still looking away with cheeks red.

Chibi Bahamut, Chibi Stiria and Chibi Nix all erupted in laughter, the chibi Eidolons rolling on the floor unable to control themselves. Chibi Odin sighed, while Chibi Alexander and Chibi Brynhildr face palmed again.

Lightning gritted her teeth, clenching the communications device tightly in her fist. "_Fang._"

Fang stopped laughing to catch a breath. "Yeah Lightbug?"

"Start running."

For the inhabitants of New Oerba who had yet to rise so far this particular morning, they were startled awake by the sound of gunshots and a yelp.


	3. Second Chances

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: And the next chapter is up! For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below._

_nameless reviewer – Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I intend for this piece to be of a decent length, so fear not, there's more coming! :)_

_Riku91 – Hehe, I too could picture the little Eidolons running around causing havoc. I could only imagine how frustrated Lightning was because of it. Not to mention all the stuff that happened afterwards. Lol. Thanks for the review! :)_

_Chocobo Prodoco – Thanks for the comment. ^^ Scarred for life, huh? Hehe... oops? XD I'm personally a dog lover myself, though sadly I'm allergic to the furry ones (both cats and dogs), so either way I'm screwed. Just like you, as I was writing this chapter, I couldn't but want my own chibi Eidolon running around too. *sighs* Oh well._

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

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><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 3: Second Chances <span>~ ***

Serah Farron snuggled happily, deep in the soft fluffiness of her bed. Morning was upon her, the sunlight peering through the window and warming her face with its radiant light. The giant teddy bear that was her future husband held her gently around the waist, Serah's forehead pressing against Snow's muscled chest. Sighing contentedly, Serah nuzzled closer to the blonde, a smile stretching across her sleepy face when he unconsciously cuddled closer to her.

An ear piercing scream from upstairs.

"Etro, help me" Serah groaned.

Snow startled awake.

Serah and Snow raced up the metal staircase to Lightning's level.

Lightning went flying through the air, gunblade in hand.

Chibi Odin sliced Lightning's blanket in half.

Serah face palmed.

* * *

><p>"Maker Claire! Really?"<p>

Serah, Snow and Lightning ate breakfast in Lightning's house, seated on the right side of the table. Scrambled Wyvern eggs, toast and Gorgonopsid bacon was the food of the day. Chibi Odin and the Chibi Shiva Sisters were also having breakfast, that being cereal and milk for the mini Eidolons, on the left side of the table from their battle partners. Serah took a gulp from her glass of milk.

"That's the third time in three days" Serah said, setting down her glass on the table.

Lightning scowled, chewing mercilessly on a strip of Gorgonopsid meat. "And that is my fault, how?" Lightning turned to glare at Chibi Odin off to her left.

Chibi Odin shrunk under Lightning's gaze, his cereal suddenly becoming very interesting. Serah shook her head at that. Lightning's eyebrow twitched.

"Like you'd react any differently to being groped first thing in the morning, every morning" Lightning huffed.

Serah and Snow looked at each other, Serah flushing. Lightning made a disgusted sound. "Maker. I did not need that image in my head." Lightning face palmed, sighing heavily.

"C'mon Sis" Snow said.

"I'm not your sister" Lightning grumbled. Her hand was still covering her face.

"Cut him some slack" Snow continued. "Odin probably just wanted to cuddle."

Fiery blue eyes levelled at Snow. "Are you telling me, that you let your _girls_ cuddle with you and Serah _every_night?"

Snow chuckled. "Nah, that would just be awkward" he said. "They have their own bed on our night stand."

"And Odin has the couch."

Serah rolled her eyes, chewing on a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "The couch, Claire?" Serah glanced at Chibi Odin who was still avoiding Lightning's gaze. "He was probably cold."

"He has a blanket" Lightning replied flatly. "And a pillow" she added, as if that made things infinitely better. "What more does he need?"

Chibi Nix and Chibi Stiria patted Chibi Odin on the shoulder consolingly. Lightning's eyes narrowed at the scene.

Serah sighed, setting her fork down. "You really aren't good with kids, are you?"

"Excuse me?" Lightning turned to her sister with an eyebrow raised. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Serah looked at the soldier incredulously. "If you haven't noticed Claire, Odin and the other Eidolons aren't exactly adults right now."

"Serah." Lightning set her fork down. "They're not human. They don't start off as babies and grow into adults like we do. They're Eidolons. We summon them, they help us in a fight, and then they leave again. That's it."

"Not in this case" Serah snorted. "I don't think the Goddess Etro has any plans of taking them back anytime soon."

"Don't remind me" Lightning mumbled. Lightning stood up with her empty plate and walked into the kitchen.

"C'mon Sis" Snow said, ignoring the icy glare sent in his direction. "Would it really be so bad for them to hang around for a bit? I mean, look at them." Snow smiled, watching as Chibi Nix and Chibi Stiria resorted to a full out cereal war with each other, tossing the milk drenched nibbles at each other dodge ball style.

"If you like them so much, then take him" Lightning said gesturing towards Chibi Odin. She set her dirty dishes down in the sink.

Chibi Odin's head jerked up, looking over at Lightning in shock. Both Serah and Snow looked at Lightning in surprise.

"What?" Serah couldn't believe her ears.

"I don't have time to babysit. I barely have enough time for myself, far a less some baby Eidolon." Lightning walked across the room for her gunblade. She sheathed her weapon, her back to them all. "Besides…" she continued. "I-" Lightning pursed her lips together and frowned. _I wouldn't make a very good parent…_

"Claire?" Serah stood up from her chair, looking at her sister's back. There was definitely something Lightning was holding back.

"Never mind" Lightning hastily replied. "I'm due out on patrol and won't be back until late. Don't wait up for me." With that, Lightning opened the door and she was gone.

Chibi Odin slumped forward dejectedly, pushing his half full cereal bowl away from him. He no longer had an appetite.

"She didn't mean it Odin" Serah said, looking back to the disheartened chibi Eidolon.

"Yeah" Snow pitched in. "Just give her some time buddy. She'll come around."

* * *

><p>"Lightnin'!"<p>

Lightning ignored the one calling to her, choosing to walk faster instead.

"Hey! Lightbug! Wait up!" Fang came running up to Lightning, much to the soldier's annoyance. "Geez woman" Fang said huffing a bit. "Didn't ya hear me back there?" Chibi Bahamut flew past them both, just above their heads in gestalt mode.

"What do you want Fang?" Lightning was is no mood to deal with the huntress at the present moment.

Fang raised an eyebrow, yet kept pace with her irritated companion. "What's eatin' ya? Are ya always this excited ta go on patrol?"

Lightning stopped walkin. "How did you-" Lightning's brows furled. "Serah" she said begrudgingly.

"Huh?" Fang stopped walking as well, turning back to look at the pinkette. "What about Serah?"

Lightning glared at the Pulsian.

"Alright, alright" Fang said with her hands raised in defeat. "She called me, I admit-"

"Tch."

"But all she said was that ya could use some company" Fang finished. _That and ta find out what's botherin' ya._

Lightning didn't believe Fang for a moment. "I'm better off alone" Lightning said, starting to walk forward again.

Fang shrugged, following after the sergeant. "Maybe" she said. "But seein' as how I don't have anythin' better ta do right now, I think I'll tag along." A wink.

Lightning rolled her eyes and simply walked faster. Fang sped up, keeping stride with her, Lightning's aggravation growing as a result. A long silence passed between the pair, Lightning leading them to the outskirts of New Oerba to begin her daily patrol around the settlement.

"So what's eatin' ya?" Fang repeated not too long afterwards.

Lightning sighed. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>"Yer scared" Fang said, eyebrows raised in disbelief.<p>

The pair currently sat on New Oerba's calm beachside, watching as the sun began to set. Patrol had been long and arduous, thanks to Fang's incessant prodding about what was obviously distracting Lightning. Lightning had been doing a good job of keeping the Pulsian at bay, that is, until she accidentally let slip Odin's name. Fang quickly pieced things together herself and soon after, everything went downhill.

Fang's questions were relentless, the huntress determined to get the whole truth from her, without fail. Lightning finally gave up after Fang asked her the same question for the hundredth time, and agreed to talk. It was to get the Pulsian off her back, Lightning convinced herself. But deep down inside, Lightning knew that was not the case. She wanted and needed someone to talk to.

A pink eyebrow twitched. "_Fang_" Lightning said through clenched teeth. "I am _NOT _scared."

"I don't believe it" Fang continued, shaking her head. "The mighty Lightnin' Farron is scared of her own Eidolon."

"Tch." Lightning made a fist. "This was a mistake. I should have never said anything." Lightning rose to her feet, ready to get the hell out of there.

Fang grabbed Lightning by the wrist, holding her back. "Whoa! Not so fast there Lightbug!" She laughed. "Don't leave now. We were jus' gettin't ta the good part."

"_Fang._"

"_Light_" Fang drawled, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "Come sit on Mama Fang's lap an' tell her what's botherin' ya." Fang slapped her thigh, motioning for the soldier to sit.

"Excuse me?" Lightning looked at the Pulsian incredulously.

Fang hollered, expecting that exact reaction from the pinkette. Lightning looked ready to either punch her or skewer her with her gunblade. Or maybe both. Soon Fang's laughter faded, and the once light hearted atmosphere quickly turned serious.

"Yer afraid ya'll push Odin away, like ya did wit' Serah before, aren't ya?" There was no mirth in Fang's eyes now, nor that annoying grin plastered on her face.

Lightning stared at her companion in surprise. Fang's sudden maturity was rather… unsettling. Strangely enough, Lightning found herself wanting the normally arrogant, annoying and outright obnoxious Fang right now. That Fang she knew how to handle. But this serious, calm and wise-beyond-her-years Fang, Lightning didn't know how to act around her.

"So that's what it's about" Fang said, when Lightning remained silent. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Ya never did forgive yerself for that, did ya Light?"

Lightning turned her face away, to watch Chibi Bahamut flounder in the water.

Silence fell upon them again.

"Did ya ever wonder why Etro left these guys in our care?" Fang smiled as Chibi Bahamut, in gestalt form, swam in the shallow water splashing noisily.

"Does she need a reason to mess with our lives?"

Fang shook her head, chuckling. "Still stubborn as ever I see."

Lightning merely grumbled.

"She wanted them ta be happy."

"I beg your pardon?" Lightning raised an eyebrow at the Pulsian.

"What mother wouldn't?" Fang picked up a fistful of sand, before opening her fingers and letting the grains slip through. "They may be our Eidolons, our battle partners, ready ta put us out of our misery if we were ever ta lose our way as l'Cies… but that doesn't change the fact that they were, and still are, her children."

Lightning looked back to Fang.

"The Goddess wanted ta give them a chance ta experience the childhood they never had" Fang continued. "But with her power lil' ta nothin', she couldn't do that on her own. So she turned ta us, her children's keepers." A pause. "I suppose, in some sense, that makes us Etro's Keepers" Fang said with a grin. "The protectors of her kids, on her behalf."

"But that doesn't make any sense" Lightning said. "She's a Goddess. She should be able to do anything she wanted."

"Maybe" Fang said, shrugging.

Lightning opened her mouth to retort.

"I would have thought ya of all people would have understood" Fang said first. Emerald eyes gazed up at the soldier. "You out of everyone know what it's like ta grow up too fast, ta give up everythin' for something ya couldn't control."

Lightning turned to the sunset, avoiding Fang's inquiring gaze again. She frowned. How was it that Fang saw through her so easily? After all of the walls she had put up over the years, they came crumbling down so easily, as if they never existed in the first place. Lightning had dealt with all of that anger, and regret and everything else associated with her stolen childhood years ago. Hadn't she? Yet-

"Is it really so much ta ask, ta allow these kids ta be kids right now?" Fang sought to meet Lightning's gaze again. Blue eyes met green.

"Maybe Etro isn't just givin' her kids a chance at a new life" Fang said. "Maybe she's givin' ya one too."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ So this was a more serious chapter. It can't be all comedy and fluff all the time. Lol. I always wondered if Lightning ever forgave herself for how she treated Serah before the whole l'Cie mess started. Not to mention, I needed some way to explain Lightning's initial aversion to the chibi Eidolons in the first place, and this was the solution. After the next chapter, things should go back to their light hearted, funny ways._


	4. The Bond that Holds them Together

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: And here's the continuation of chapter 3! The funny incidents involving Lightning will continue again after this one._

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_WriteFF13 – I know you left a signed review, but you have your private messages disabled. So I'm replying back to you here. Thank you for the comment! I'm glad you liked the chapter. :) I'm happy to hear you've had a chance to check out my videos as well. ^^ Personally, I think my favorite out of all of them is Lightning's video. I really lucked out on how well things lined up with that one. Hehe. There are many chapters still to come for this story, so don't worry, it will continue for a while yet. Thanks again!_

_Chocobo Prodoco – Thanks for the comment! As much as it would be great to always have the fluffy stuff, sometimes we all need a break from that once and a while. Hehe. Fear not, after this chapter, things should be going back to their fluffy, cute and silly ways. XD On a side note, "onii-chan" means big brother. I think you meant to say "onee-chan" which means big sister. Thanks again!_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

* * *

><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 4: The Bond that Holds them Together <span>~ ***

Lightning walked home slowly, the conversation with Fang earlier still weighing heavily on her mind. As much as she hated to admit it, Fang was right. About everything.

"_Maybe Etro isn't just givin' her kids a chance at a new life," Fang said. "Maybe she's givin' ya one too."_

Lightning stopped. "Etro…" she mumbled. "I'm losing it. I'm actually considering Fang's advice. Fang of all people!"

Lightning rubbed her face with her hand. Now was not the time for such things. She'd think about them later. _Much _later. As for right now, it was getting late, and Chibi Odin needed to be fed. Lightning too.

Trudging up the metal staircase to her level of the Farron residence, Lightning rolled her shoulders backwards trying to ease her tense muscles. Opening the door and flicking on the light, Lightning unbuckled her boots and kicked them off to the right of the door. It was then she noticed something was missing. Or rather, someone.

"Odin?"

No reply. Her house was empty.

Lightning frowned, immediately walking over to her bed and pulling off the blanket. She shook it out. Nothing. Chibi Odin was nowhere in sight. Circling her level twice, she still couldn't find any sign of her mini battle partner anywhere.

A thought.

Lightning padded up to the front door again and slipped on her boots. Chibi Odin was probably with Serah. After the squabble this morning, it was doubtful Serah would leave the mini Eidolon anywhere on his own while Lightning was away.

Lightning jogged down the metal stairs and yanked open the door to Serah and Snow's level. Walking inside, was greeted by the sight of Serah and Vanille in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Two heads turned from the kitchen counter to look at her.

"Claire?" Serah said in genuine surprise. "You're back early. We weren't expecting you for another hour or so."

"Ah, yeah," Lightning said distractedly. The soldiers brows furled when a certain mini white knight didn't come into view. "Where's Odin?"

"You mean he's not with you?" Vanille asked in confusion. Chibi Hecatoncheir sat near the sink, helping Vanille dry off the plates with a towel as she washed them.

"He's not here with you?"

Serah shook her head.

Lightning went tense. "If he's not here with you, where is he?"

The door behind Lightning opened and Snow came stomping through. His arms were occupied with brown grocery bags filled to the brim. The Chibi Shiva sisters floated past Lightning's feet, both of them holding a smaller grocery bag in their hands.

"Woah Sis!" Snow said, narrowly avoiding a collision with Lightning in the doorway. "I almost didn't see you there. Weren't you with Odin?"

Lightning spun around to face the blonde. "You saw him?"

"Yeah," Snow said walking into the kitchen. He rested the grocery bags down on the counter. His Chibi Eidolon did the same. "Just a few minutes ago. He was walking towards the Eastern edge of town. I thought maybe he was lagging behind you."

"But why would he-"

_"If you like them so much, then take him." _

"_I don't have time to babysit."_

"_I barely have enough time for myself, far a less some baby Eidolon."_

Lightning's eyes widened. "Thanks Snow." Lightning dashed through the open door and was gone.

Snow blinked. Vanille too.

"Did Lightning just thank me?" Snow said dumbfounded. He scratched the back of his head.

"Didn't you send Odin on that errand to the grocery store?" Vanille turned to the youngest pinkette before looking at the door again.

Serah smiled. "I did," she said.

"Shouldn't we tell her?"

* * *

><p>Chibi Odin walked out of the New Oerba grocery store, in gestalt form. Having forgotten to remind Snow to buy some extra herbs for tomorrow's meal, Serah sent Chibi Odin to get them rather than wait for Snow to come back home, only to send him back to the store again. Never one to deny her fetish for cute things, Serah had stitched together a simple cloth saddlebag to match Chibi Odin's gestalt form the moment the Chibis came into their lives. She almost squealed, along with Vanille, when she realized how perfectly it worked for this errand. Deftly harnessing the small white horse, and stuffing a grocery list in one side bag, with gil in the other, Chibi Odin was sent on his way to the grocery store.<p>

Walking into the grocery store, the clerk at the front was initially shocked to see him, but not at all surprised. Apparently Vanille had sent Bhakti on similar errands before, so the clerk was used to it. With the exchange of gil complete and his saddlebags filled with Serah's herbs, Chibi Odin was now ready to head home to finish his assigned task. That is, until he saw Lightning dash past him, too fast to be on an evening stroll.

Chibi Odin blinked. All six of his eyes.

The mini Eidolon looked in the direction of home, before turning back to look in the direction Lightning disappeared in. Should he go home and wait for Lightning there? Or should he follow after his battle partner and the both of them go home together after she completed her errand? It wouldn't have surprised the mini Eidolon if Serah had sent his battle partner on an errand too. Serah was adept to delegating work to the rest of the former l'Cie family, so much so most of the time they didn't realize what she was doing.

With one long glance in the direction of home, Chibi Odin turned in the opposite direction and galloped after Lightning.

* * *

><p>Never panic. A clear mind always makes good decisions. At least, that's what Lightning told Hope during their flight as l'Cies passing through the Gapra Whitewoods. While it sounded logical and rational when she first told him, Lightning was currently finding it hard to follow her own advice. Don't panic? Lightning couldn't but panic right now. She was failing miserably in her duty as Chibi Odin's guardian, as Chibi Odin's partner, and as Etro's Keeper.<p>

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Lightning berated herself as she ran. It was her fault Chibi Odin ran away. Serah tried to warn her, tried to show her, but she wouldn't listen. Lightning didn't want to listen. Even when Serah's words were no less truthful than Fang's. It wasn't until the huntress chastised her did Lightning realize her error. But that was too little too late. She had already made a mess of things. What was Etro going to do when she found out Lightning let Chibi Odin get himself killed because she was being more childish than he was?

Racing past the local grocery store towards the eastern boundary of town, Lightning failed to notice a small white horse standing in front of the doors. With the glare from the overhead lights bouncing off of the mostly white pavement, Chibi Odin almost seamlessly blended into the backdrop.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Thick, grey clouds were slowly approaching the settlement. She gritted her teeth. It would rain soon.

Lightning ran faster.

* * *

><p>Vanille looked out the window, handing Chibi Hecatoncheir the final dish to dry. It was dark now, small droplets of rain starting to fall. The redhead frowned. "It's getting late," she said, clearly worried. "Do you think we should go look for them?"<p>

Serah looked out the window before setting the last dish of food on the dinner table. _Claire should have run into Odin on his way back from the grocery store by now. _

"I'm sure they're alright," Serah replied, despite the worried look on her face. "They've probably made up by now and are on their way back."

* * *

><p>"Out of my way!" Lightning slashed at the closest Gorgonopsid, the beast leaping backwards away from the soldiers blade. Thunder boomed loudly in Lightning's ears, the freezing cold rain chilling her to the bone. A flash of lightning struck nearby, momentarily illuminating the muddy field where Lightning currently fought a pack of six Gorgonopsids. In her haste to find Chibi Odin before the worse of the storm came, Lightning stumbled across the hunting beasts, having neither heard them nor seen them in the downpour until it was too late.<p>

Lightning cursed as she staggered to the side, just barely avoiding the snapping maw of a Gorgonopsid. Back when she was a l'Cie, a group of this size could easily be dispatched solo through the use of magic. But as it was right now, Lightning was without magic, and in deep trouble. As fast and as skilled as she was, trying to fight six-on-one battle was pure suicide. It was not like she had a choice though.

Lightning cried out in pain as the jagged claws of a swiping Gorgonopsid ripped through the flesh of her arm. Her gunblade clanked to the ground uselessly, Lightning clutching at her wound to slow the bleeding. Having already been poisoned by their Virulent Breath, Lightning swayed on her feet as she backed up, wearily looking for an escape route. Thankfully, the poisoning wasn't that bad. She could easily sleep it off like a bad cold if given the time. But the thing was, Lightning didn't have that luxury.

Lightning could barely see a damn thing in this rain, her vision already starting to ebb as the poison worked its way through her veins. The soldier put down two Gorgonopsids, injuring another two before reaching this point, yet the sheer amount of them was still too much for her to handle on her own. Especially in the dark.

A roar.

Lightning's head snapped to the right just in time to see a Gorgonopsid leap at her. A blur of white darted between them and the whole area was bathed in a Thundaga.

* * *

><p>"Did you find them?"<p>

All the former l'Cies, except Lightning, convened in front of the Farron residence. Hours had gone by since they last saw Lightning, the storm outside only getting worse as the night went out. When the soldier and her mini Eidolon partner still hadn't returned hours after dinner was consumed and the leftovers went cold, the rest of the former l'Cies could wait no longer for them to return on their own.

"I didn't see them anywhere," Hope said, wringing out the water from his hair. All of them were drenched to the bone, their jackets and coats being of little help to them in the storm. The rain had stopped by now, but there was still no sign of Lightning or Chibi Odin.

"I found something," Sazh said grimly. "In the foot hills just north east of the border. A lot of blood and slashed up Gorgonopsid carcasses."

"You don't mean-" Vanille's hands came up to her mouth as she gasped.

Sazh reached into his pocke, pulling out something. He held it up in the palm of his hand for the others to see. "There were a few empty shell casings nearby too."

Serah went pale.

"No!" Fang said in defiance. "Lightnin' would never fall that easily! She's still alive! Don't ya dare say otherwise!"

Everyone startled when a loud bang shattered the quiet night air. The mini Eidolons, save for Chibi Odin, lay in a sprawled heap at the bottom of the door leading into Serah's and Snow's level to the house.

"What on earth..." Sazh was clearly confused by the Chibi Eidolons' antics. And not only him.

Chibi Bahamut hissed, pushing off Chibi Stiria's leg which was draped over his head, before looking upwards at the doorknob. Serah followed his gaze. There, tied to the doorknob were Chibi Odin's saddlebags.

"Hey Goofball," Fang said, shaking her head. "If ya wanted ta reach the door knob, why didn't ya go gestalt and fly up ta it."

Chibi Bahamut blinked, before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Serah gasped, immediately rushing over to grab the tiny cloth bags. The herbs she wanted were in one pouch, with the change left over, in the other.

"Serah?" Snow questioned.

Serah looked up to Lightning's door. "Claire!" She bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time, stumbling as the metal was still slippery from the rain. Serah disappeared into Lightning's level the moment she yanked open the door at the top.

"Serah!"

The rest of the family chased after Serah. Fang was the first one up, the Pulsian sliding to a halt just five steps inside the door to avoid bowling over the youngest pinkette. Serah was rooted in her spot, hands up to her mouth, staring at the opposite end of the room. The others rushed in soon afterwards, each one of them narrowly missing a collision with the ones in front before Snow pulled up the rear and knocked them all over like a bunch of bowling pins. Squeaks and yelps erupted instantly, angry yells and shouts directed at the clumsy blonde who was still on his feet and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Soaked and muddied leather boots lay sprawled to the right of the door, a trail of water leading from the doorway to Lightning's bed. Along the way, drenched articles of clothing, specifically Lightning's GC uniform, lay scattered on the floor. A discarded towel sat in a heap on the floor, just right of where Lightning's dripping gunblade rested length-wise against the side of her bed. Chibi Odin's wet S-blade and shield were also propped up next to it.

"Well I'll be," Fang said with a grin, still on the floor underneath Vanille and Hope.

"Awwwwwww!" Vanille squealed. "They're so cute!"

There on the bed, with the blanket pulled up to her stomach, slept a faintly smiling Lightning. She was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt with Odin's cape tied around her arm. Hugged against her chest, with his head directly between the pinkette's breasts, slept a smiling Chibi Odin.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ I apologize to everyone for the jerkiness of this chapter. It's not as refined as some of my other pieces, but for the love of me, I can't seem to fix it any better. Sorry about that. I hope the chapter was enjoyable nonetheless. :)_


	5. Paradigm Shift

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: And the hilarity continues! _

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_toastbox – You left me a signed review, but have your PMs disabled so I'm replying back to you here. Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I too found chibi Odin in gestalt form adorable. Too bad they aren't real huh? I would so get one for myself. Lol. More cuteness is on the way! And hilarity too. Thanks again. :)_

_Chocobo ProdoCo – Thanks for the review! I too found this chapter extremely cute. The end at least. XD With the seriousness all sorted out, expect the funny stuff to return starting with this chapter. XD Enjoy!_

_Riku91 - Thanks for the reviews. ^^ It's always nice to know people appreciate the stories I come up with. :) Lightning thanking Snow was more of a habit thing, rather than an intentional thing. You know how habits are so ingrained in you that you run on automatic at times because of it? Yeah, that's what happened in Lightning's case there. Her mind was so preoccupied with the possibility that Chibi Odin ran away, and she was running on automatic there. Lol. Anyhow, if you thought the previous chapter was fun, wait and until you read this next one. Hehe..._

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

* * *

><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 5: Paradigm Shift <span>~ ***

Fang awoke to a scream. While any other person would have jumped up in a panic by this, Fang did not. This was nothing out of the ordinary. Ever since they – that being she and Vanille - returned from their crystal slumber with the chibi Eidolons in tow, Lightning had developed the habit of waking them all up screaming in the mornings. Chibi Odin was to blame for that, the little one nuzzling his battle partner in his sleep, often sneaking into Lightning's bed in the middle of the night. Today however, when this particular scream was immediately followed by Serah's panicked cry of her sister's name, Fang couldn't but bolt upright in bed with fear clenching at her heart.

It had been three days since the ruckus between Lightning and Chibi Odin. Thankfully, it ended without incident, except for Lightning's minor poisoning at the hands of a wayward pack of Gorgonopsids. Nevertheless, the soldier was really out of it for the next couple of days after it, all of them worried for Lightning. As tough as they knew the eldest Farron to be, they were all normal humans now. They didn't have the invincibility as l'Cies anymore, which made them more susceptible to injury. And death.

While Lightning had gotten over the worst of the poisoning just yesterday, Fang couldn't but wonder if she had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. Serah never screamed, not like that unless something awful happened to her sister...

* * *

><p>"What is it! What happened!" Fang burst through the door to Lightning's house in a frazzle. Her hair was wilder than normal, only half her sari – the lower end - in place with the rest of it hanging off of her waist. Thankfully for the current inhabitants, Fang had remembered to pull on her black tank top before barrelling into the Farron residence barefoot. If she hadn't, the others would have seen just how well endowed the huntress was. Vanille stumbled into the house moments later, looking just as bad.<p>

"What's going on? Did something hap-" Vanille gasped, her hands immediately covering her mouth. "O-Odin?"

Fang stood slack jawed, frozen in shock next to her partner. There, on Lightning's bed, sat Odin. An adult sized Odin. A human adult sized Odin. Fang's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The Pulsian was having a hard time processing what her eyes were obviously telling her.

"What happened Serah?" Vanille turned to the youngest Farron, who gave the Oerbans a weary smile. Snow was next to her, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

"I wish I knew," Serah said. "I just came in to check on Sis this morning and found him like that."

At the mention of the eldest Farron, Fang got her wits about her. "Where's Lightnin'?" The sari clad warrior could not hide the tinge of worry in her voice. Odin looked as right as rain, though bigger with a confused look on his face. But Lightning, Lightning was no where to be seen.

"I'm right here."

Both Vanille and Fang startled. Fang's eyes darted all over the room, the spear wielder absolutely positive she had just heard the soldier's voice. "L-Light?"

A sigh. "Yes, Fang. It's me."

Fang and Vanille looked at each other bewildered. They were clearly hearing Lightning's voice, a little softer than normal, but Lightning was still nowhere within sight. Were they hallucinating?

"W-where are you Light?" Vanille spun around in her spot twice, trying to locate the soldier to no avail.

"Look lower."

"Lower?" Fang raised an eyebrow but dropped her gaze. She was now looking at the foot of Lightning's bed.

"Lower."

Fang looked at the floor underneath Lightning's bed.

Another sigh. "Lower Fang, lower."

Confused, Fang lowered her gaze even more to look at her feet. Then she fell over backwards, surprising everyone.

"Fang!" Vanille exclaimed in horror.

Fang sat on the floor in the utmost shock. Emerald eyes widened in disbelief as her gaze focused on the tiny one walking up to her from the side.

"Close your mouth Fang," Chibi Lightning said. "Or you'll catch flies."

* * *

><p>Fang burst out laughing. "So let me get this straight."<p>

The whole former l'Cies family now resided in Lightning's house, discussing the most recent events. It didn't take long before Sazh and Hope came running in too, in response to Serah's scream. Charging through the door like Fang and Vanille before them, both Sazh and Hope received one heck of a surprise. Chibi Lightning scowled at the grin stretched over the Fang's face.

"Ya both woke up this mornin' and had switched places?" Fang looked between Odin and Chibi Lightning.

Odin sat on one of the six chairs at Lightning's dinner table with Chibi Lightning standing on the table in front of him. Chibi Lightning wore her typical Guardian Corps. uniform with her red cape. The rest of the former l'Cies took up the remainder of the chairs around dinner table, their Chibi Eidolons sitting near their battle partners respectively. Those who couldn't fit at the table sat on Lightning's couch. Adult sized Odin and Chibi Lightning nodded.

"But jus' yesterday, ya both were normal?" Fang continued her inquiry. Chibi Bahamut looked curiously at Chibi Lightning from Fang's lap.

Again, both Odin and Chibi Lightning nodded.

An awkward silence settled on the group, everyone staring at each other but no one saying anything. Seconds later, Fang burst out laughing again. "Maker! This is priceless!"

Chibi Lightning gritted her teeth, crossing her arms over her chest. "While this is all very amusing to you," Lightning began. "I, for one, would like to get this... mistake... fixed."

"I dunno Light," Fang said grinning. "I kind of like ya pint sized."

It took every ounce of will power for Lightning not to kick Fang in the teeth. _"FANG."_

The said Pulsian laughed some more.

Sazh sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. Just when he thought he'd seen everything possible, this happens. Never did he imagine things would quite turn out like this when he was jolted out of bed in the morning by Serah's scream. The old man could only imagine what was going through Hope's mind at this point.

"Awww, c'mon Light," Vanille said in that sweet voice of hers. "Being little for a day ain't all that bad." She giggled. The redhead had such the urge to cuddle Chibi Lightning right now.

Chibi Lightning face palmed. While Odin had regained his regal knight look after growing in size, Lightning remained the same in appearance, except for being chibi sized. Thank the Maker for that. Lightning didn't know what she would do if her looks had been chibi-fied too.

"I'm not worried about being like this for a day," Lightning said. "I'm more worried that I may get stuck this way. Permanently." Lightning scowled. Knowing Etro, the Goddess would probably leave her like this if she had her way.

"But why would you want to change back?" Vanille looked absolutely horrified at the thought. "You're so cute!" The urge to cuddle the tiny pinkette was getting worse.

Serah swallowed nervously. Lightning would not take kindly to that comment. Thankfully her gunblade was still its regular size and there would be no way Chibi Lightning could wield such a massive weapon now. That was perhaps Vanille's only saving grace.

Chibi Lightning's eyebrow twitched, the soldier repressing the urge to smack the youngest Pulsian silly. The chibi pinkette managed to keep herself in check however, narrowing her eyes at the redhead. "Vanille..." the pint sized soldier said. "I am not cute."

Vanille could hold herself back no longer, the last surviving Dia snatching Chibi Lightning from the table faster than anyone had seen her move before. Vanille squealed, cuddling Chibi Lightning to her chest. While Chibi Lightning may have glared at her, it came out more like a pout than an actual glare, skyrocketing Chibi Lightning's cuteness on Vanille's cutie-pie meter to previously unheard of heights. How could she not want to squeeze the life out of something so awesome like that?

Chibi Lightning squeaked in surprise, clearly not expecting that reaction from the redhead. Her cry of surprise was quickly muffled the moment her face met breast. Everyone's mouths dropped open at the sight, Chibi Lightning's face now smooshed flush against Vanille's chest. Vanille continued to nuzzle the tiny soldier making happy noises. Fang could not contain this new bout of laughter, the Pulsian gasping for air holding her stomach, as she nearly fell backwards in her chair almost taking her chair with her.

"G-getting back to the topic at hand..." Serah said, being the first one to recover from her shock. The younger Farron's voice was a little higher than normal, Serah admiring her best friend's bravery, yet at the same time fearing for Vanille's life. They'd all been lucky so far that Lightning hadn't lost it and gone on a rampage. Perhaps Lightning's temporarily (what she hoped was temporary) adjusted size had something to do about that.

"We need to call Etro to fix this."

"Awwwww, but Serah," Vanille whined. "Do we have to?" The redhead pouted.

This momentary distraction enabled Chibi Lightning to squirm partially out of Vanille's steel-like grip, freeing her head from Vanille's bosom to get the much need air she was lacking moments ago. The chibi-fied soldier was red faced, and it wasn't all because of her lack of breath. Despite her smaller stature, Vanille was decently padded up top. Chibi Lightning could only wonder what Serah was like, knowing full well her sister was currently squashing down her desire to also cuddle _cute _things. It would only be a matter of time before Serah caved, though.

Serah stifled a laugh behind her hand. Vanille's expression was so adorable! But as adorable as her best friend's expression may be, she couldn't and wouldn't torture her sister by leaving her in this state. Only Serah could torture her sister so.

A mischievous smile.

Chibi Lightning shot daggers with her eyes at Vanille, still clutched tightly in Vanille's grasp, unable to do anything aside from glare.

"Vanille," Serah said in that stern yet motherly voice of hers. "You know we can't leave her like that."

Vanille pouted more. Fang chortled next to her partner.

"You sure we can't just leave her like that? Just for a little while longer, Serah?"

Chibi Lightning's glare couldn't have gotten any colder as she turned her furious gaze to the behemoth named Snow. In her current form, Snow looked ridiculously huge, but that did nothing to quell her urge to castrate the man right now.

"H-how would you like to take her place then?" Hope said, finally finding his voice.

Snow looked at the silver haired teen in surprise.

"While I'm sure it's all giggles and laughs for you now, if you were in Light's place, I'm sure you wouldn't like it very much."

"Thank you, Hope," Chibi Lightning said, giving her young charge a smile. Lightning always knew she could count on Hope.

Hope beamed at the praise.

"Uh huh." Fang grinned. She sent a sly look in Chibi Lightning's direction. "Ya say that now, but we all know ya just wanna keep her in yer room like that."

Hope's face immediately went scarlet. Chibi Lightning's jaw dropped.

"I know I would," Fang admitted, forcing Chibi Lightning's shocked gaze towards her. "I mean, look at how cute she is." The Pulsian patted the pint sized sergeant on the head.

"Fang!" Chibi Lightning growled, finally forcing her way out of Vanille's hold and tumbling backwards onto the table. Again she glared, promising a horrible, painful death with her eyes if Fang tried something like that again. But Fang only laughed, completely unphased by Chibi Lightning's look.

"I. Am. Not. Cute!"

"Jus' look at 'er," Fang said, ignoring Chibi Lightning's protest. In an instant, she grabbed the tiny soldier by the back of her uniform's collar and lifted Chibi Lightning into the air. "You can even pick her up like a dolly!"

Chibi Lightning yelped in surprise, suddenly finding herself dangling in the air in front of Fang's smirking face. Momentarily flailing before she recomposed herself, Chibi Lightning snarled at the Oerban, her arms crossed over her chest. "Is that right?" the smaller pinkette asked.

Fang's smirk only grew wider. Sazh sighed, again running a hand over his face. Nothing good would come of this. He knew it. Vanille just giggled.

"Tell me then, Fang," Chibi Lightning continued. "What kind of doll do you know would do this!" Chibi Lightning pulled back right leg before whipping forward, the heel of her tiny boot crunching against Fang's nose in a hard kick.

Fang's head snapped backwards at the move, the Pulsian crying out in surprise and pain. Chibi Lightning went tumbling head over heels into the air as Fang's hands immediately went to her now bruised and throbbing nose. Had it not been for Odin's quick reflexes, the adult human sized Eidolon reaching out to catch the airborne chibi soldier, Chibi Lightning would have met the floor in a rather painful way.

"What the bloody hell was that for!" Fang growled, emerald eyes glaring at Chibi Lightning who currently sat in Odin's hands.

"I'm not a doll, Fang!"

"Light! That was mean!" Vanille said in defense of her partner.

"Think I'm still cute now, Vanille?" Chibi Lightning stood up in Odin's open palms, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked back at the Pulsian pair coldly.

Serah sighed. This is exactly what she wanted to avoid in the first place. Too little, too late now though. The damage was already done. "I think now would be a good time to call Etro about this," she said in resignation.


	6. The Chibis' First Winter Part I

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: Merry Christmas everyone! And for those of you who don't celebrate it, Happy Holidays! :) In the spirit of the holidays (and because I have no idea what my schedule will be like in the next few days), I'm posting this chapter up early. On top of that, I have decided to make this chapter a holiday themed one. ^^ _

_Please note, this chapter is a bit out of order with the rest of the story, taking place after Lightning and Chibi Odin have been returned to their regular forms. Also note, I will be continuing this chapter later on in the story, but that won't be for a while yet._

_On another note, there is now a poll up on my profile page pertaining to this story. Please check it out and vote. I'm of two minds right now what to do with this story, so I'm hoping you all will help me out with it. ^^ I will announce the results when the next chapter is posted._

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_Chocobo ProdoCo - Lol. I'm glad you liked the chapter. :) If you like that one, you'll most likely enjoy this one too. ^^_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

* * *

><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 6: The Chibis' First Winter Part I <span>~ ***

"Odin?"

The tiny Eidolon looked back at the sound of his name.

"What is it?"

Today, Lightning awoke feeling... off. Something was not quite right, yet at the same time, nothing looked out of place upon first waking. Everything was where it should have been. The dishes were away in their cupboards. The dining table chairs were neatly lined up against the table's wooden frame. Even the laundry hung up the night before on the other end of the room was still there, unlike that one day Snow let Chibi Shiva run amok unsupervised and Lightning found the tiny twins playing hide-and-seek in her clothes. In spite of all of this, something still felt weird. After a few seconds of hazy thought, the soldier realized why.

The small form which usually cuddled her under the blanket was missing.

As much as Lightning refused to admit it, she had grown accustomed to Chibi Odin's clingyness during the night. She had long since gotten over being startled awake first thing in the morning, finding her mini battle partner nuzzling her chest. It seemed the chibi knight couldn't sleep without hearing the steady beating of her heart, something Serah had attested to before when they were kids. Apparently there was something very soothing about her heartbeat, as both Chibi Odin and Serah tended to fall asleep within moments of snuggling with Lightning. That was an endearing thing Lightning had to admit, even if she didn't understand why it happened.

Chibi Odin squeaked, before turning back to the window, pressing his hands and face up against it. Within a few breaths, the pane of glass started to fog up again. Lightning rubbed her eyes, pushing herself up from bed. Running a hand through her tousled hair, the soldier padded across the cold floor barefoot until she stood directly behind Chibi Odin, the mini knight currently standing on the windowsill. Rubbing her eyes again, she peered through the glass to see what had gotten the chibi's attention. A slow smile stretched across her face.

It was snowing.

Winter Solstice. That's what Fang and Vanille called it. It was the time of the year when all life on Gran Pulse hibernated, in preparation for the coming year. Snow (as in the precipitation _snow_ and not the oaf _Snow_) fell from the heavens, covering the land in a white fluff. The bitter coldness would stay with them until the spring, at that time the animals reemerging from their winter sleep and the plants covering the land once again. The former l'Cies were originally introduced to the changing seasons back when they landed on Gran Pulse for the first time, still on the run from the Sanctum over a year ago. They never stayed long enough to experience all the seasons however, yet it was something Lightning never forgot about.

On Cocoon, the climate always remained the same, no matter what time of the year it was. It was always somewhere between Spring and Summer, Lightning mused. What a shock it had been when they all awoke on a morning similar to this one, only to find three inches of snow covering the ground. Yet, as cold and as stark as the outside was, there was also a kind of magical feeling to it, something which without a doubt held Chibi Odin's curiosity now.

"Did you want to go outside?"

The chibi knight looked back at Lightning in surprise. The smile on Lightning's face grew wider. "Go on," Lightning said, nodding to the window. "I'll make breakfast in the meantime. If you get cold, come back inside, alright?"

Chibi Odin stared at his battle partner in shock for a few seconds before getting his wits about him. He chirped in happiness before jumping off the windowsill, landing on Lightning's bed before he went off in search of his cape. Once it was found and tied it around his neck, the little Eidolon scrambled over to the door. Lightning already held it open for him.

"Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes."

Chibi Odin squeaked again in confirmation, before walking past the soldier. He paused momentarily in the doorway, before turning back. Lightning blinked in confusion when he walked up to her feet and started jumping up and down. Raising an eyebrow, she stooped down.

"What is it Odin?" She held out a hand to him.

Chibi Odin scrambled up her arm, until he was able to hop onto her bent knee. Balancing precarious on Lightning's thigh, the chibi knight leaned forward to hug Lightning around the neck when he was close enough. Blue eyes went wide in surprise when the little Eidolon kissed Lightning on the cheek before jumping down to the floor. Chibi Odin smiled sweetly at Lightning before disappearing out the door. Lightning stared at the open door, frozen in her spot in shock at the little one's boldness. The soldier stayed that way for another minute before the biting cold from outside pulled her out of her shock, Lightning closing the door shortly afterwards.

Shaking her head, the pinkette wandered over to the vanity to freshen up. Rubbing the back of her neck, her free hand went up to her cheek. The memory of Chibi Odin's affection made Lightning smile again, a soft pink colour rising to her cheeks.

* * *

><p>"So Vanille, what do ya want for Wintersday?"<p>

"Wintersday?"

The former l'Cies sat on benches in the local New Oerba park, watching as their chibi Eidolons played in the snow. This was the second significant snowfall since winter started months ago, every day the chibis asking to go outside to play with the white stuff.

"Yeah," Fang said with a nod. "It's a Pulsian holiday," the Oerban explained. "Ta commemorate the creation of Pulse."

"I see," was all Lightning said.

"Think of it like Pulse's birthday," Vanille said with a smile.

"That sounds like one of our holidays," Sazh chuckled. "Except it celebrates Lindzei's birthday."

"As interestin' as that is," Fang said flatly, "I bet ya don't give each other presents like we do." A grin.

"Presents?" Hope raised an eyebrow. "Why would we give each other presents if it's celebrating Pulse's birthday?"

"It's not only a celebration of Pulse's birthday," Fang continued. "It's also a celebration of life. We share gifts wit' each other ta welcome the new year and ta celebrate the past year."

By now, the chibis had stopped running around in the snow and all sat near Fang and Vanille's feet listening to the Oerbans talk. The concept of gifts and presents were still new to the mini Eidolons, the small ones having already witnessed the exchange of gifts at both Hope's and Serah's birthdays. The prospect of getting gifts themselves was very exciting for them.

"I like the sound of this holiday," Snow said with a childish grin.

Lightning rolled her eyes at the blonde's comment, shaking her head. It was just like Snow to be like this. The soldier expected such behaviour from Hope, but even the teenager displayed more maturity than the oaf. Lightning's gaze fell upon Chibi Odin. Like the other mini Eidolons, Chibi Odin stared at Fang and Vanille in awe and wonder.

Vanille giggled. "You should see what happens when we decorate the town. It's so pretty!" The redhead sighed happily, resting her head against Fang's shoulder. Vanille's eyes went unfocused as she remembered past Wintersdays.

Lightning looked up at Fang. "When is Wintersday?"

Fang's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting this topic to be of interest to Lightning. "It's in another three weeks." A raised eyebrow. "Why do ya ask?"

Lightning averted her gaze, thinking. "No reason."

* * *

><p>Lightning growled in frustration, pacing up and down the length of her house. Wintersday was now a week and a half away and she still hadn't figured out what to get everyone for their Wintersday gifts. Once Team NORA caught wind of the Pulsian holiday, news of the tradition spread like wild fire. Fang and Vanille soon became the most sought out people in the settlement, many Cocoonians wanting to know how Wintersday worked and what type of decorations and events were common for the holiday. Within days, the entire population of New Oerba was hustling about, preparing from the coming of Pulse's birthday.<p>

Chibi Odin watched his battle partner pace restlessly, Lightning running a hand through her hair repeatedly as she did so. Ground rules had already been set by the former l'Cies for their first Wintersday celebration. The chibis were exempt from getting the former l'Cies anything, as they were _kids_ and could hardly be expected to come up with gifts on their own. The former l'Cies were responsible for getting their own chibis presents, but it was not required of them to give to the others' mini Eidolons. Lastly, the former l'Cies could exchange gifts between each other, but nothing so large that it couldn't fit through the door, nor could the said gift cost any one of them more than a month's worth of supplies.

In spite of these set boundaries, something which significantly took off the pressure from them all when it came to gift giving, for the life of her, Lightning still didn't know what to do. She should have gone to Serah for help, but Lightning refused to do that, wanting to figure things out herself. Presents were meant to be a surprise after all. While she could easily get any one of her family members replacement necessities like sweaters or weapons upgrades as gifts, her biggest dilemma was what to get Chibi Odin.

Unbeknownst to Lightning, Chibi Odin faced a similar dilemma. What kind of present should he get Lightning? He knew he wasn't expected to get a gift for everyone, or anyone for that matter. But after convening with the other mini Eidolons one day, when all of them were being babysat by Serah, Chibi Odin knew this issue could not be ignored. The others had already decided what they were going to get each of battle partners for Wintersday, and Chibi Odin was not about to be the odd chibi out.

Chibi Hecatoncheir was going to give Vanille the sparkly rocks he had found while digging in the Mah'habara Subterra months ago. He may not have understood the value emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds had, but Vanille always loved sparkly things. Just like him. If at a later time the redhead wanted more, the chibi digger could easily get Vanille some other types of gemstones. Gran Pulse was abundant with them if one knew where to look.

Chibi Alexander was going to give Hope a picture that he drew of the whole family, both of the former l'Cies and Eidolons. The picture itself was drawn in crayon, multiple colours in fact, done on a blank piece of paper Chibi Alexander had found lying around the house. The mini Eidolon had first learned of his love of drawing three days after following Fang and Vanille to New Oerba, when Hope introduced him to the idea of pictures. Chibi Alexander couldn't make pictures like Bhakti could, but he could do the next best thing. Drawing them.

Chibi Brynhildr was making Sazh a replica of himself out of clay, about 1/18th of his regular size. Like Chibi Alexander, the chibi fire Eidolon had also discovered her love of the arts, but more towards the molding side of things. Having accidentally learned that fire made clay hard and preservable, Chibi Brynhildr quickly sought to perfect her clay molding skills to make something her battle partner would truly love.

When it came to Chibi Bahamut, the mini dragon Eidolon wasn't sure what he was going to get Fang yet. He was partially leaning towards a new pelt of sorts, as the ones hanging off of his battle partner's belt were looking a bit ragged with age. Fang really did love those pelts, and Chibi Bahamut figured she wouldn't mind another one to add to the collection. Whatever he eventually decided, the others wouldn't know what it was until Wintersday. Needless to say, Chibi Bahamut was not all worried about it.

Chibi Stiria and Chibi Nix had it all planned out. With the help of Serah, the twin chibis were going to make Snow's favorite dessert, Bumbleberry pie. Apparently there was a particular way the berries needed to be chilled before they could used for baking. If it wasn't done properly, the pastry would taste as good as tar. But done correctly, it was the next closest thing to heaven. With ice magic being their speciality, the twin chibis were confident in their ability to please their battle partner. After all, the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. At least, that's what had Serah said.

While the others happily proclaimed what their intended gifts for their battle partners would be, Chibi Odin remained silent on the matter. He was the only one out of all of them who didn't know what to get for his battle partner. As much as the chibi white knight liked the other chibis' ideas, getting Lightning some pretty rocks, or making a clay statue of her, or drawing a picture of the family, or getting her an animal pelt, or making Lightning some sort of food, didn't seem very practical.

If there was only one thing Chibi Odin knew about Lightning, it was that the soldier liked practicality over everything else. Sadly, gifts of the practical kind were not something Chibi Odin could get for Lightning. The things she needed, like weapon upgrades for example, often required exuberant amounts of gil to buy it. And gil was something Chibi Odin was hugely lacking. Hopefully Lightning wouldn't be too disappointed if he chose to copy Chibi Brynhildr's idea...

* * *

><p>Wintersday was celebrated at Fang and Vanille's house. At the crack of dawn, every single chibi Eidolon roused their battle partners from bed and dragged them all over to the Oerban's residence. Inside the house, ribbons decorated the chairs and dining table, with sparkling ornaments decorating the walls. An eight foot needled tree, commonly known as a pine tree, sat in the far corner also decorated with colourful ribbons and crystal ornaments. Wrapped presents of all shapes and sizes clustered around the base of the pine tree, the delectable scent of cinnamon wafting through the air. Days ago, Vanille taught Serah how to make cinnamon buns, something the youngest pinkette was all too eager to share on this occasion. And once everyone was assembled around the table, whether willingly or not, it was time for a rushed breakfast and then the opening of presents.<p>

The chibis and Dajh were the first to open their gifts. Chibi Hecatoncheir got a knitting set with six colourful balls of yarn from Vanille. The earth Eidolon was very talented at making things with his hands, Chibi Hecatoncheir often helping Vanille shape the cookies before they were put in the oven when the redhead baked. Vanille really loved her sweets, among other things. Chibi Hecatoncheir squeaked happily upon receiving his gift, not even five minutes later finding himself half tangled in all six balls of unravelled yarn. It would take another ten minutes after that for Vanille to help her mini battle partner out of that mess, the redhead giggling the entire time.

Chibi Alexander got a paint set from Hope, the silver haired boy knowing exactly how much his mini battle partner loved to draw with crayons. It was incredible how fast the chibi Eidolon went through crayons on a monthly basis. Hope silently prayed it would take Chibi Alexander longer to get through all of the paint, considering the paint bottles were almost as big as his mini battle partner. Little did her realize, Chibi Alexander would soon find it fascinating to paint on the walls inside of Hope's room... And on his desk.

Sazh gave Chibi Brynhildr a warm, fluffy coat for her gift. This particularly coat was a deep red colour, to match Chibi Brynhildr's colouring, stuffed with chocobo down. It was supposed to be the warmest thing around, just short of casting Firagas everywhere they went when it came to errands outside of the house. The fire chibi Eidolon, out of everyone, hated the cold weather the most. So much so, she often refused to leave the comfort of the blanket in the mornings. Hopefully, now that wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Chibi Bahamut got chibi-sized goggles from Fang. The chibi dragon Eidolon was notorious for crashing into things, often when he got either water or grit in his eyes while racing through the air in gestalt form. On more than one occasion, Fang was left apologizing to Mr. Miller, one of the local shop keepers in the market, until she was blue in the face, as Chibi Bahamut tended to use Mr. Miller's inventory as his crash landing pad when being temporarily blinded.

The Chibi Shiva sisters each got their own identical stuffed hero Snow dolls from Serah and Snow. After a week of witnessing Serah snuggle their battle partner at night, the chibi twins practically demanded the same treatment from that point onwards, jumping into bed with the young couple at night, much to Serah's displeasure. Thankfully for the youngest pinkette, with all of them being the heroes that saved Cocoon, it was very easy to find dolls which looked like them in the market. It was a tribute of sorts, to them from the people, even though their dolly-like replicas didn't exactly look like them. Now that the chibis had their own 'Snow' to cuddle, hopefully that meant Serah could finally get back to cuddling the real thing without being disturbed.

From Lightning, Chibi Odin got his own sleeping bag and pillow, chibi-sized just for him. From time to time, the chibi Eidolons would sleep over at Serah's house, when the duties of the former l'Cies kept them away longer than usual. All the chibis had their own sleeping bag of sorts, all except Chibi Odin as the mini white knight lived just upstairs. Chibi Odin had never complained about the arrangement, but Lightning knew her little partner often felt left out come sleep over time.

Unknown to all except Serah, Lightning had handmade those items for Chibi Odin, ending up with a multitude of needle pricks by the time she was done. And that was why her hands and fingers were covered in numerous band-aids at the moment. Though when asked about it, Lightning would say it was due to a prickly adventure with a herd of Cactuars while on patrol a few days ago.

Chibi Odin's sleeping bag was crimson in colour, the exact colour of Lightning's cape, while his pillow was an off white colour. The reason for that was due to the fact that the small sleeping bag was made from one of the Lightning's capes, an older one at that. Rather than just toss it away, as Lightning was never one to waste things, she decided to reuse her tattered accessory and ended up using it to make Chibi Odin's sleeping bag. As for his pillow, that was made from one of Lightning's old sleeping shirts.

Chibi Odin clutched his new pillow and sleeping bag tightly in his arms, rubbing his face against them. Both items smelled exactly like Lightning, something which comforted him greatly. The mini knight gave a joyful squeak, making Lightning blush slightly as he smiled at her.

Once the chibis opened their presents, the former l'Cies exchanged gifts with each other. From clothes to weapon upgrades, and from other necessities to the promise of more family time (Lightning's gift to Serah), everyone ended up with large smiles on their faces, their hearts filled with happiness.

Then the chibis surprised the former l'Cies with gifts of their own.

"Odin?" Lightning looked at Chibi Odin in confusion when he walked up to her, looking away shyly, with his hands behind his back. It seemed Lightning was not the only one confused by this action, the rest of the family having a similar reaction as all the chibis did the same thing.

Looking nervously at the ground, his booted foot idly poking at the floor, Chibi Odin took a deep breath before revealing his present. Closing his eyes tightly, the mini knight held a small white velvet pouch up to Lightning, the pinkette taking the pouch gently from Chibi Odin's hands.

"Oh wow!" Hope exclaimed. "Look at this everyone!" The silver haired boy proudly showed off Chibi Alexander's drawing of the family. "This is awesome Alexander! I'm going to frame this and hang it in my room."

Chibi Alexander beamed at the praise.

"Fang!" Vanille squealed. "Look at what Hecaton got me!" In Vanille's hands were a variety of precious gemstones, all of them two to three inches in diameter.

"Look at what Hecaton got ya?" Fang repeated in shock. "Look at what Bahamut got me!"

In Fang's hand was a Trapezohedron.

"This is the real stuff Vanille! Not that crap Ol' Man Miller sells in the market!" Fang turned to Chibi Bahamut. "Where did ya get this?"

The chibi dragon Eidolon merely smiled timidly at his battle partner, with his hands behind his back.

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee!" Snow exclaimed, his mouth half full of Bumbleberry pie. The Chibi Shiva sisters giggled at the blonde's antics, Serah shaking her head at Snow's lack of manners. Nevertheless, Serah smiled too.

"What do you have there, Brynhildr?" Sazh took the present from his chibi Eidolon and with the utmost care, unwrapped it. "Well I'll be," the gunner said with a proud smile. "I think this is the best statue of me that I have ever seen."

"It's really pretty," Dajh added, making Chibi Brynhildr blush even more than she was already.

Lightning stared at the pouch in her hands.

"What did you get, Claire?" Serah peered over her sister's shoulder.

Lightning jumped, having not heard Serah approach her. "I-"

"Well open it silly," Serah said, looking eagerly at Lightning's present.

Lightning chuckled, shaking her head. Serah was more eager than she was to open the gift. Nevertheless, Lightning untied the pull strings keeping the tiny pouch shut and shook the pouch over her open palm. Something pink tumbled out. Serah gasped behind her.

"Maker Claire!" Serah exclaimed in stunned amazement. "Is that..."

Tears formed in the corner of Lightning's eyes, the soldier swallowing back the lump in her throat. In her hand was a perfect replica of her Eidolith crystal, made of pink quartz. Never had Lightning seen something so beautiful before. The soldier was so touched by the gift, she couldn't even speak.

Chibi Odin squeaked in alarm. He had worked for days on that little gem, having tasked Chibi Hecatoncheir with finding a piece of rose quartz big enough to carve and asking Chibi Brynhildr about the best way to mold, or in this case, to carve the rock. After six failed attempts on regular stone, Chibi Odin decided to test his luck and tried carving the real thing. Thankfully, the seventh attempt turned out perfectly. Or so he thought. Seeing Lightning nearly in tears made the little Eidolon panic, thinking he'd done something horribly wrong. Did he carve it wrong? Was it too small? Maybe the colour wasn't good...

Lightning laughed, sniffling as she rubbed away her unshed tears with the back of her hand. "It's alright, Odin," she said quickly, before the mini knight had a nervous breakdown. "I'm not upset. Really, I'm not."

Lightning swallowed again, a genuine smile on her face, her eyes tearing up again. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

The rest of the family froze in their spots, all of them looking between Chibi Odin and Lightning. Never had any of them, aside from Serah, seen Lightning so close to tears before. Or portraying so much emotion before, aside from the typical ones like frustration, annoyance and anger. What surprised them even more was when Lightning leaned towards Chibi Odin and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.

Vanille smiled brightly, leaning against Fang's arm, cuddling against the older Pulsian. Jade coloured eyes lingered on the soldier and mini white knight. "They really make a great pair, don't you think?"

Fang nodded, also smiling. "That they do."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ The term Wintersday was taken from the game Guild Wars. Wintersday is a day that two of the five gods in Guild Wars battle it out to see if winter remains for another few weeks or if spring will finally come. You can find more information about it here:_

_http[colon][doubleslash]wiki[dot]guildwars[dot]com/wiki/Wintersday_

_For this chapter, the holiday was used in a different way._

_On another note, I don't claim to know when our heroes' and heroines' birthdays are. I'm just making up dates for them for the sake of this chapter. _

_As for the idea that the seasons something inherent to Gran Pulse, I have seen this come up in other fanfictions. I didn't come up with the original idea. That goes to the first person who did._

_I don't claim to know how Bumbleberry pie is made. But for the purposes of this chapter, the berries need to be chilled a certain way for before baking. :P_

_On one final note, rose quartz is known as the love stone. It helps the user feel a strong sense of self-worth, therefore being worth love. Rose quartz is the stone of universal love_.


	7. Did You Want Some?

**Etro****'****s**** Keepers**

_**A/N**__:__ Sorry for the delay in posting. I was getting errors this morning when trying to upload this chapter to the server. It seems to be fixed now, the uploading error, but FFnet is still glitchy, taking out spaces between words for certain lines. I've corrected all of that, but it's quite possible it may get overridden again. I hope not._

_This__ chapter__ was__ originally__ titled__ "__Cookie__" __but __I __felt __it __didn't __quite __have __the __effect __that __I __wanted. __Hence__ the __title__ change._

_Thank you to all who voted in __the __poll. __I __was __rather __surprised__ to __see __how __near __even __the __results __were.__ Because __of __the __near __tie, __I__ have__ decided __to __do __both.__ Both you ask? Yes, I will do both. __Etro's__ Keepers __will __have __an __end__ for __those __of __you __who __voted __for __that. __And __for __those __of __you__ who__ voted __for __the __story__ to __continue__ on__ without __an __end, __once __Etro's __Keepers __is __done, __I'll __be __writing __the __sequel __to __the __story __called __Etro's __Keepers: __A __Day __in __the __Life. __This __sequel __will __consist __of __drabbles __from__ the __Etro's __Keepers __world, __ones__ that __I__ wasn't __able __to __fit __into __the __main __story. __That __way, __everyone__ will __be __happy. ^^  
><em>

_On __another __note, __I__ have __another__ poll__ up __pertaining __to __this __story __and __future __FFXIII __stories __in__ my__ profile. __Please __check__ it __out __and __read._

_For__ those __of __you__ who__ left __unsigned __reviews, __see __my__ replies __below:_

_Riku91__-__Thanks__for__ your __reviews.__ Chapter five is __one__ of __my __favorite __chapters, __I'll __have __to __say. __:) __As __for __how __Lightning __got __that __way, __blame __that __on __good __ol' __Etro. __Lol. __Why __was __she __turned __that __way? __Does __Etro __really __need __a__ reason __aside __from __harassing __our __favorite __pink __haired __sergeant? __XD __Hehe. __Anyhow, __Lightning __will __be __like __that __for __a__ bit__ longer, __but __thankfully __it __won't __be __permanent.__ :P__ As for Chapter six, that had to be the hardest chapter to write by far. It wasn't easy coming up with all of those gift ideas, nor keeping everyone's reactions to it in character, either. Lol. Thankfully, it all turned out for the best. :)_

_Chocobo__ ProdoCo__ - __Thanks __for __the__ review. __I __was __laughing__ as __I __wrote __that __line. __I__ had __half __a__ mind __of__ including __the __bit__ "__though__ the __very __thought __of __Snow, __as __in __Serah's __fiance __Snow, __actually __falling __from __the __heavens__ did __amuse __Lightning __quite __a __bit__" __just__ for __the __hell __of __it. __XD __Sadly, __it __would __have__ ruined __that __particular __moment __and __I __chose __to __keep__ it __out. __I'm__ glad__ to __know __you __enjoyed __the__ chapter, __it __is __definitely __a __favorite __of__ mine.__ :) __As __for __Chibi __Lightning, __we're __getting __back __to __her __in __this__ chapter. __;) __Enjoy!_

_Kyo. Dreams __- __Thanks __for __the __review. __I'm__ glad __you __decided __to __venture __into __this __kind __of __story, __despite __it __not __being __what __you__ usually __read. __I've __been__ wanting __to __write __a__ softer, __more __cheerful __story __for __a __while __now, __and __finally __got __around__ to __writing __this __one. __:P __I __hope __you'll __continue __to __follow__ it __as__ it __progresses._

_**Disclaimer**__:__ The__ characters __and __the __worlds__ I __write __in __do __not __belong__ to __me. __The __stories__ that __I __write __are __intended __for __entertainment__ purposes. __I __do __not __make __any __money __from__ them._

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><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter<span>7: Did You Want Some? ~ ***

Chibi Lightning wanted to punch something.

"_Hiiiiii~!__ You__'__ve __reached__ Etro__'__s __voicemail__…"_

Well, maybe punch was not the right word.

"… _I__'__m__ not __here __right __now__…_

And it was not something, but rather someone, that she wanted to punch.

"… _But__ if __you__ leave __a __message__…"_

One particular someone. A deity in fact.

"… _I__'__ll__ get __to __you __when __I __can. __Ta __ta!__"_

Why did these things always happen to her?

Chibi Lightning sighed. She currently sat on Serah's couch, in the lower level of the Farron residence. With her arms crossed over her chest, blue eyes closed in annoyance. Running around Chibi Lightning and the couch, doing a variety of unexplainable (to the chibi soldier at least) things, were the rest of the chibi Eidolons except for Odin. Snow had taken it upon himself to patrol the town against monsters in Lightning's absence, dragging with him Lightning's human adult-sized battle partner. Despite Chibi Lightning's wish to join them, the chibi soldier willing to bear even Snow's almost unbearable presence, she unfortunately was stuck here, suffering the inhumanity of... well… being grouped with the children.

Chibi Lightning sighed again.

"How are you doing over there, Claire?" Serah's voice floated over the back of the couch, along with the sounds of running water and the washing of dishes. Serah would be starting dinner soon.

"Just peachy," Chibi Lightning grumbled in response. She opened her eyes to stare at her booted feet in aggravation, feet which were easily dwarfed by the couch she sat on.

An inquiring squeak.

Chibi Lightning looked to the right, meeting the gaze of Chibi Alexander who stood next to her on the cushions.

"I'm fine," Chibi Lightning replied, sighing for the third time in the span of minutes. There was no harsh edge to her voice.

Chibi Alexander, like his battle partner, was a very sweet boy... err... Eidolon. Like Hope, Chibi Alexander was very thoughtful and kind, every so often, since she had been turned into a chibi, checking up on Chibi Lightning to make sure she was alright.

Another squeak. And a pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Chibi Lightning mumbled.

Chibi Alexander jumped off the couch to join the others again on the floor.

"Claire?"

Chibi Lightning jumped at the proximity of Serah's voice. She looked back over her shoulder and jumped again when she found Serah just inches away from her, her younger sister leaning over the back of the couch to look at her. Serah giggled.

"What?" Chibi Lightning huffed. Due to her smaller size, most of her typical expressions didn't come out as threatening as they usually did. And because of that fact, Chibi Lightning's scowl came out looking more like a pout than an actual scowl.

"Are you still pouting?" Serah couldn't but smile at her sister's current disposition.

"I am not pouting." Another pout.

"Sure you aren't," Serah said patting her chibi sister on the head.

"Serah!" Chibi Lightning slapped away Serah's hand.

"You're so cute Claire."

Chibi Lightning scoffed, again, looking no more scary than a newborn Gorgonopsid pup. With one last pat, Serah went back to the kitchen to start dinner. On tonight's menu was Wyvern wings (barbecued style), with mashed batatas and vegetables. Batatas were the Gran Pulse version of potatoes, slightly sweeter than Cocoon potatoes, yet a welcomed change from what they used to eat. Now that the pots were clean, Serah assembled the required ingredients for dinner on the kitchen counter, humming away while she began to peel the batatas. Meanwhile, Chibi Lightning sulked on the couch, crossing her arms again, cursing a certain goddess under her breath.

"Stupid Etro," Chibi Lightning muttered.

A grumble.

Chibi Lightning held her stomach, looking downwards, pursing her lips. She was hungry.

After the startling discovery this morning, of hers and Odin's switched forms, Chibi Lightning hadn't had much of an appetite for breakfast, skipping it altogether. For lunch, and only due to Serah's prodding, Chibi Lightning ate a bit of leftovers from the night before. A slice of Oretoise meat. But even then, that wasn't very much. Now it seemed her hunger had finally caught up to her.

Another grumble from her stomach.

"Right."

Seeing as how there was nothing that could be done right now, aside from eating something to shut up her stomach, Chibi Lightning decided to get a snack. She wanted a cookie. And the cookies were kept in a jar on the kitchen counter near the sink.

Sliding off the edge of the couch and landing on the ground with a soft thump, Chibi Lightning quickly apologized to Chibi Bahamut, having almost landed on the tiny Eidolon when she got off the couch. Ignoring the questioning looks the other chibis sent her, Chibi Lightning wandered into the kitchen in search of her snack. Using the various cabinet and drawer handles to pull herself up, Chibi Lightning soon found herself on the counter, walking past the sink for the ceramic cookie jar marked **COOKIES** in big black bold letters across the front. By now, Serah had finished peeling the batatas and was starting to chop up the vegetables on the other side of the counter. Chibi Lightning reached for the lid of the cookie jar.

_THWACK!_

"Maker!" Chibi Lightning exclaimed, falling backwards on her rump. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Reluctantly, the chibi soldier turned her head in Serah's direction. There, in the air, where her hand had previously been, was a carving knife, sticking out of the wooden cutting board. Chibi Lightning hadn't noticed the cutting board there before, propped up strategically next to the cookie jar. That is, not until a knife bigger than her was flung her way.

"S-Serah!" Chibi Lightning shouted, her voice crackling slightly. "Did you just throw a knife at me?"

The youngest pinkette flushed in embarrassment. "Oops!" Serah said, reaching over to pull the knife out. "Force of habit." She giggled.

Chibi Lightning sweat dropped. There were multiple slashes in the wood of the board, a clear indication this hadn't been the first time a knife had come flying towards it.

"I'm so used to doing that when Snow is around, it just kind of happened."

Chibi Lightning swallowed nervously. "You throw knives at Snow? Regularly?" The thought of Serah throwing knives at the big oaf was a rather amusing one for the tiny soldier. Though, thinking about it further, Chibi Lightning could only wonder just how many times Serah had practiced throwing knives to end up that accurate with it.

Serah chuckled. "Sometimes," she replied. "That's usually the only way I can stop him from stealing a cookie before dinner. Which reminds me..."

Chibi Lightning felt herself swallowing again under Serah's narrowed gaze.

"Just what were trying to do dear sister?"

Never in Lightning's life had Serah looked as demonic as she did right now. It didn't help there was a ginormous knife in her sister's hand at the moment either.

"I was hungry," the chibi pinkette admitted after a few silent seconds. Chibi Lightning rose to her feet, getting over her initial shock. "So I came to get a snack."

A pink eyebrow raised, blue eyes filled with mirth. "So you came to get... a cookie?" Serah asked.

Chibi Lightning nodded.

Silence.

Then Serah burst out laughing.

Chibi Lightning's eyebrow twitched, her jaw clenching. "What's so funny?" The tiny pinkette crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Serah.

After a fit of giggles, Serah opened her mouth to speak, only to laugh more.

Chibi Lightning gritted her teeth. _"__Serah,__" _she said growling. "_What's__ so __funny?_"

"Maker, Claire!" Serah gasped in between laughs. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd reach for a cookie over that healthy crap you usually eat." More giggles.

Chibi Lightning scowled, causing Serah to laugh more. "Just because I eat that _healthy __crap_ most of the time doesn't mean I don't eat cookies from time to time."

Huffing, Chibi Lightning turned away from her laughing sister, reaching for the cookie jar once again. In a blur of movement, Chibi Lightning was sent stumbling backwards in surprise, fumbling with something that was shoved at her.

"Eat that instead," Serah said, the remnants of her last laughs dying on her lips.

Chibi Lightning looked down at the thing in her hands. It was a banana. The tiny soldier made a disgusted sound and flung the fruit to the counter top. The thing was almost as big as her. Just the thought of eating that creeped her out.

"I don't want a banana, Serah," Chibi Lightning said. "I want a cookie." The pint sized soldier reached for the cookie jar again.

_WHACK!_

Chibi Lightning recoiled her hand in surprise and pain. Serah did the same, except it was a spatula she pulled back, and it was hardly in surprise or pain.

"Serah!" Chibi Lightning exclaimed. She clutched her throbbing hand to her chest. "What has gotten into you! Is this how you're going to treat your children when you finally have some of your own?"

First a knife and now a spatula. Chibi Lightning was starting to wonder just what else would be thrown her way today. And just where the hell were all of those things coming from!

"Bad Claire!" Serah reprimanded. "No cookies for you. You'll ruin your dinner." Serah put her hands on her hips, her right hand still holding the spatula.

Chibi Lightning glared like she had never glared before. "Serah," she said in a calm yet threatening voice. "I am not a child. I can eat whatever the hell I want, when I want. And right now, I want a cookie!"

"Claire!" the youngest Farron scolded. "Watch your language!" Serah gestured to the chibis, who by now had stopped their kiddy stuff to watch both sisters from on top the couch in the living room. "The last thing we need is for them to pick up your potty mouth."

"Serah!" Chibi Lightning couldn't believe this. "Just who the hell do you think you're talki-"

"That's it missy!" Serah exclaimed. "Time out for you!"

Before Lightning knew what happened, she was tossed over Serah's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Serah then proceeded to march through the front door, up the stairs to Lightning's level, and yanked the door open. Chibi Lightning squeaked when she flopped on her couch on her bum, Serah standing in front of her with her hands on her hips. "You're going to stay here and think about what you've done, Claire."

And with that said, Serah stormed out of Lightning's house, locking Chibi Lightning inside.

* * *

><p><em>TAP. <em>_TAP. __TAP._

"Go away," Chibi Lightning moaned. She currently lay face down in bed.

After who knows how many times she tried to break out of her own house and failed, Chibi Lightning resorted to lying on her bed, groaning in misery. Ever since the chibis arrived, all of the former l'Cies child-proofed their homes, which included the installation of child proof locks on the doors and windows.

They had all heard of the horror stories back on Cocoon, of children leaving the house, sleepwalking, in the middle of the night when the parents were asleep, only to be run over while crossing the street. While there was no such thing to fear in New Oerba, there were other dangers like the Gran Pulse monsters that occasionally wandered into town. With the chibis being as small as they were, magic or not, they would no doubt look mighty tasty to a nasty looking for a quick bite to eat.

While it seemed like a good preventative measure at the time, Chibi Lightning was now cursing the person who created such a mechanism. The chibi soldier was still hungry, more so now than before, and there was not a damned thing in her house she could eat. Cookie-wise at least. They were all downstairs under Serah's evil watch.

_TAP. __TAP.__ TAP._

"I said go away," Chibi Lightning grumbled again. She stuck her head under her pillow. "I'm in no mood to fight with you again, Serah," came Chibi Lightning's muffled voice.

_TAP.__ TAP.__ TAP._

"Oh for the love of Et-" Chibi Lightning blinked, sitting up in bed. The tapping was not coming from the door.

_TAP. __TAP.__ TAP._

It was coming from her window.

Getting up from bed, Lightning wandered over to the nearest window and climbed onto the windowsill. Outside of the window was Chibi Bahamut in Gestalt mode. Chibi Lightning blinked again.

A squeak.

"Ah right," the tiny soldier said, looking for the latch to open the window. Upon finding it, and wrestling with the child proof lock for a minute and a half, the chibi pinkette finally managed to get it open, allowing for the mini dragon Eidolon to enter. Chibi Bahamut landed on her bed, switching out of Gestalt form.

"What are you doing here?" Chibi Lightning asked, the pint sized soldier jumping down from the windowsill to her bed. "If Serah finds out that you've snuck out of the house and-"

A happy squeak.

Chibi Bahamut surprised Chibi Lightning when he held up a chocolate chip cookie to her.

Chibi Lightning stared at the cookie in surprise. Blue eyes went back to Chibi Bahamut. "For me?"

Chibi Bahamut blushed, looking away shyly as he nodded.

Chibi Lightning was in shock. "But... how did you even... I mean, where did you..." The tiny sergeant was at a loss for words. Never did she think this would happen.

A loud grumble.

Chibi Lightning flushed.

Chibi Bahamut blinked in confusion at the sound, realization quickly dawning on his face, the tiny Eidolon smiling again. He held the cookie closer to her.

Chibi Lightning chuckled. "You know," she began. "If Serah was to find out about this..." A slow smile stretched across her face.

Another squeak. And a nod.

"If you say so," Chibi Lightning said with a smile. She took the cookie from Chibi Bahamut and looked at it. "I'll only eat this under one condition."

Chibi Bahamut looked at the tiny pinkette, baffled.

"You'll share it with me."

Chibi Bahamut's confusion quickly turned to shyness once again. Chibi Lightning's smile widened, before the tiny soldier broke the cookie into two and handed Chibi Bahamut a piece.

With a squeak of thanks, both chibis sat down on Lightning's bed and ate their cookie piece.

* * *

><p>"I am so sorry, Fang!"<p>

"Serah, really," Fang said trying to console the distraught Farron. "Don't worry about it. This wouldn't be the first time Bahamut has snuck out before and I'm sure it won't be the last. He's a tricky bugger I tell ya."

For the past fifteen minutes, the former l'Cies (except Chibi Lightning) had been searching for Chibi Bahamut. One moment, he was in the living room, playing with the other chibis, and in the next, he was gone. Serah was beside herself with grief. She had only turned away to check on boiling batatas for a moment, and somehow, in that span of under a minute, not only had the chibi Eidolon vanished, but he'd left no trace as to how he did it either. And the other chibis weren't about to rat out one of their own.

Fang rubbed Serah's back as they walked up the stairs to Lightning's level. "For now, let's jus' grab Lightnin' and we can all search together, yeah?"

Upon opening the lock to Lightning's house, and following the worried pinkette inside, Fang soon found herself jumping in surprise at Serah's shout.

"Claire!"

On Lightning's bed, both Chibi Lightning and Chibi Bahamut jumped in surprise, each of them holding a quarter of a cookie in their hands. In between cookie bites, the two chibis chatted about a variety of topics ranging from Serah's inhuman awareness and demonic behavior regarding cookie grabbers, to Chibi Lightning's recent change in size.

Crumbs and chocolate were smeared all over Chibi Bahamut's hands and mouth, the tiny Eidolon being quite the messy eater. Chibi Lightning on the other hand, was spotless mess-wise, the tiny soldier quickly licking the last remnants of chocolate from her lips as a result of her most recent bite. Both of them looked mighty guilty when Serah marched up to them, the youngest Farron ready with a scolding for both of them, but more specifically for her sister.

"Claire! How could you?" Serah frowned, her hands balled at her sides. "Bahamut I can understand, but you?"

Chibi Lightning and Chibi Bahamut looked at each other briefly before the chibi soldier met her younger sister's gaze. Rather sheepishly, Lightning held up the remnants of her cookie to Serah. "Hey Serah," Chibi Lightning said, smiling like the kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Did you want some?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Batatas__ are__ another __name__ for __sweet__ potatoes, __one __originally __used __before__ they __were __dubbed__ 'sweet__ potatoes'._

_For__ those __of __you__ who've __read __my__ "__Tainted __Fal'Cie__" __FFXIII __story, __you'll __recognize __Serah's __knife__ throwing__ skills __from__ there. __XD_


	8. The Chibis' First Winter Part II

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: Hello there! So the story is doing a bit of jumping around again in this chapter. This is part two of chapter 6, taking place long after Lightning and Chibi Odin have returned to their normal forms. After this chapter, I'll resume the regular storyline._

_On another, random note, I finally played and beat FFXIII-2 a week ago, acquiring all achievements just days later. Anyone else feel unsatisfied with the ending? There were quite a few things I was disappointed with, but will save my annoyed ramblings for another time. That being said, for all of you Tainted Fal'Cie fans out there, I'm considering a sequel which would take place after FFXIII-2, but have yet to come up with anything plausible. I'll let you know if I come up with something._

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_Sparkxxx7 - Thanks for the review! ^^ I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Admittedly, it was really fun to write. :)_

_Chocobo ProdoCo - Thanks for the review! ^^ Lightning seems to get into trouble when she's little it seems. Lol! And the tables have turned now too. Serah's taken up the big sister (sort of) role and now Lightning is the little sister. XD_

_Riku91 - Thanks for the review! ^^ I think I know which parts you're talking about from FFXIII-2 but I'm not quite sure. Lol. This chapter was a lot of fun to right though, so expect to see some more moments like this in the story's sequel when it comes out. :) I'm glad you enjoyed TF as much as you did. ^^_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

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><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 8: The Chibis' First Winter Part II <span>~ ***

"Serah?"

The said pinkette jumped at the sound of her name.

"Hey," Lightning said, approaching her sister from the left. Serah was currently in the kitchen of the Fang and Vanille's house, washing dishes.

"You alright?"

Lightning knew she was light on her feet. She knew she was naturally stealthy. For her, scaring people was nothing out of the ordinary, especially if they weren't paying attention to their surroundings in the first place. Serah however, had a unique 'Lightning radar' as dubbed by Vanille. Somehow, her younger sibling always knew when she was around, even when she was nowhere in sight. So for Serah to have not noticed her approach, that meant something was on her sister's mind.

Serah looked at Lightning, feigning innocence as she forced a smile. "Of course I am," she said. "What made you think I wasn't?"

Lightning frowned. Very rarely did Serah lie to her. And when she did, something was usually wrong.

"I sent Odin over here a moment ago with some more dishes," Lightning answered. "He said you didn't look so well."

_Odin was here? _Blue eyes strayed to the pile of dirty dishes to the left of the sink. _Oh. So that's how those got there. _Serah's gaze then moved to Chibi Odin, the mini Eidolon currently standing next to Lightning on her left. The moment he saw Serah looking down at him, he hid behind Lightning's legs fearing he was in trouble.

Serah chuckled. "You're not in trouble, Odin," she said with a genuine smile this time. "So don't worry alright?"

Chibi Odin peeked his head out from behind Lightning's socked feet.

An inquiring squeak.

"No, I'm not mad at you."

A relieved exhale.

Lightning smiled at the exchange between Chibi Odin and her sister. But as cute as it was, there were other things to address at this current moment.

"How about you go play with the others, Odin?" Lightning said, nodding her head in the direction of the other chibis. The rest of the chibis were currently running around the Wintersday tree playing tag. "I'll help Serah wash up."

Chibi Odin peered up at his battle partner for a good five seconds before he reluctantly nodded his head. With one last glance at the Farron sisters, the mini Eidolon scurried over to the others to join in their game.

"Here," Lightning said scooting Serah out of the way. "I'll wash up. You can dry them." The eldest Farron reached over and took the soap saturated sponge from her younger sibling.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling this on my own, Claire," Serah said, faking a pout. While she appreciated the help in cleaning up, Serah was really hoping to have some time to herself right now to think about a few things. That's why she volunteered to wash the dishes in the first place.

Lightning chuckled. "Don't fight with me on this, Serah," the sergeant said smiling. "I was always more efficient at this than you were."

"Hey! That's not nice, Claire." Serah truly pouted then, making Lightning laugh. "I don't go around reminding you how bad your cooking is."

"You don't have to," Lightning said, her lips twitching slightly into a smirk. She handed Serah a freshly cleaned plate to dry. "I already know how horrible my cooking is. That's why I let you cook. It saves me from having to do it."

"Claire!" Serah slapped Lightning with her towel.

Lightning laughed again, raising her arm up to defend herself. After a few more soft whacks and chuckles, Serah went back to drying the dishes with Lightning turning back to wash the dishes in the sink. The two sisters quickly settled into each other's silent company, the sounds of the others enjoying their day playing in the background.

"What's on your mind, Serah?" Lightning said, breaking the quiet after a while. She didn't look at her sister, the older pinkette scrubbing the current dish in her hands with the utmost accuracy.

"Claire?" Serah looked at Lightning in surprise.

"You know, you can always talk to me, right? If something's bothering you..."

Serah sighed, looking down at the plate she was drying. "Am I really that obvious?"

Lightning glanced over at Serah, pausing in her motions. "If Odin hadn't pointed it out to me, I would have noticed sooner or later." Lightning resumed her scrubbing, an awkward silence falling upon the pair for a few seconds before Lightning spoke up again.

"I know haven't been the greatest of sisters in the past-"

"No Claire, I didn't-"

"But I'm trying to be, now more than ever," Lightning continued. "If there's something bothering you, I want you to come to me. And if there's something I can do to fix it, I will."

Serah gave Lightning a sad smile. Wistfully, the youngest Farron set her now dried dish down on the counter top, along with the towel she was using, before wandering over to the dinner table to sit down. Washing up the last cup and setting it down in the dish rack, Lightning quickly wiped her hands before joining her sister.

"I want one," Serah said after a while.

Lightning blinked. "Want one... what?" Following her younger sibling's gaze, Lightning's eyes landed on the chibi Eidolons chasing each other on the opposite end of the room.

"I know I never got to the point of summoning my Eidolon," Serah began, "as I completed my focus before I could. But even so, I would have had an Eidolon, right?"

Lightning pursed her lips, frowning as Serah sighed again.

Receiving no reply from her sister, Serah continued to speak. "Snow and I have been talking about kids."

Lightning's posture went stiff as a board, the soldier's gaze quickly snapping to the oaf named Snow. The blonde currently chatted with Sazh near the Wintersday tree.

"After we're finally married and much older, of course," the youngest pinkette quickly added having noticed Lightning's expression. She patted her sister reassuringly on the arm. "But now that we're taking care of the Eidolons, it doesn't seem like we'll be thinking about that anymore."

Lightning breathed in relief at that. While she had a better opinion of Snow after the whole l'Cie mess, just the thought of mini Snows running around, calling her Auntie Light, made her shudder. Mini Serahs, she could handle. Maybe. But the whole thing of Snow and Serah, in bed- Lightning shook her head. She would _NOT_ let her thoughts go in that direction.

Serah sighed again, pulling Lightning back to reality. The youngest Farron slumped back into her chair. "As great as Stiria and Nix are-"

"It's not the same as having your own," Lightning finished for her sister.

Serah nodded, dejectedly. It broke Lightning's heart to see Serah so down.

"Hey," Lightning said, shifting her chair closer to her sister's. "Come here." The soldier wrapped her arms around Serah's shoulders and hugged her.

Serah cuddled closer to Lightning, her head against Lightning's shoulder. They did this often as children, Serah's hand holding onto the eldest Farron's arm very much like she was doing right now. Lightning stroked her hair soothingly. Somehow the soldier always knew how to comfort her.

"I know I'm just being silly-"

"You're not," Lightning said, before Serah could say anything more. "So don't think about that, alright? I'll figure something out."

"Okay."

Comfortable silence.

Then a grin.

"You know," Lightning said nonchalantly. "If push came to shove, I could always give you Odin."

"Claire!" Serah exclaimed, looking at Lightning mortified. She elbowed the eldest Farron in the ribs as she pulled out of Lightning's embrace.

Lightning laughed, rubbing her side. "I'm joking, Serah!" she said, smiling widely. "I'm joking. We all know what happened last time." The soldier's smile wavered for a moment, Lightning's eyes momentarily darkening at the memory.

Serah leaned over and gave her sister a kiss on the cheek, surprising the sergeant. "Good," she said more cheerful than she had been in the past few minutes. "Because I'd hate to have to chase you both down in the snow this time!"

A snort. "Like you could ever chase me down."

A pink eyebrow arched. "Is that a challenge, Sis?" Mischief burned in blue eyes.

Lightning opened her mouth to retort.

"Hey Serah!" boomed a voice on the other side of the room. It was Snow. "Come check this out!" The blonde waved excitedly, gesturing to something out of sight, behind the forms of their family members.

"Coming!" Serah said, giving the soldier an amused look before taking her leave.

Lightning returned the look, though her eyes never left her sister as her younger sibling wandered over to her fiance. The sergeant remained in her chair, silent, in thought.

"She alright?"

Blue eyes looked up to meet green ones. Fang casually sat down in the spot Serah previously occupied, crossing her left leg over the right, leaning back into the chair. The Pulsian huntress watched as Vanille ventured over to Snow and Serah, also examining whatever it was they were all looking at.

"How did-"

"Sisterly intuition," the sari clad warrior said. A wink.

Lightning rolled her eyes, shaking her head in the face of Fang's grin.

"What?" Fang asked. "It's true."

"Uh huh." A pause. "Say Fang..."

"Yeah Lightbug?" Another grin.

Lightning's eyebrow twitched. She repressed the urge to punch the Pulsian in the face. No matter how many times she told the woman, Fang insisted on using those nicknames for her. And some of them were just Maker forsaken awful.

"I need to use your communicator."

"What's wrong wit' yer communicator?" Fang raised an eyebrow at Lightning in confusion.

"Not that communicator," Lightning clarified. "Etro's communicator."

Fang's expression dropped. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up straighter in her chair. The expression Lightning currently wore meant trouble. And not the good kind.

"Nothing's wrong," Lightning replied a little too quickly, concerning the Pulsian even more. "I just... I just need to talk to her about something."

Fang frowned at the soldier's vagueness, yet reluctantly handed Etro's communicator over to the pinkette. "Care ta tell me what's it about?"

"Nothing to concern yourself about," was all Lightning said.

* * *

><p>"We'll see ya in a couple of hours then." Fang waved as the family dispersed for the afternoon and made their way towards their respective houses.<p>

Hope was going to spend some time with his father and Chibi Alexander for the next few hours, Sazh doing the same with Dajh and Chibi Bryhildr. Fang and Vanille, along with their Eidolons were going to check out the festivities in the town square, Team NORA having also shown interest in that. Snow with Chibi Shiva were going to follow along too, but Serah opted to go home and get some rest. She was surprisingly tired from all of the excitement surrounding the day, not to mention cooking and cleaning was very draining, especially when preparing food for that crowd. Oddly enough, Lightning had encouraged her to get some rest as well. Almost adamantly so.

The sergeant had been particularly cryptic after their sister-to- sister talk, Serah noted. Lightning too had turned down the offer to explore the festivities in town, yet let Chibi Odin go off under Fang and Vanille's care so he wouldn't miss out on the fun himself. When questioned about it, the soldier replied with her typical response, that the reason wasn't important. Serah, being too tired to question her sister further, accepted the answer and went straight home to sleep.

Walking into the Farron-Villiers residence, Serah made a beeline for the bed, falling onto it face first. While the cool sheets were refreshing, there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, warning her that there was something not quite right about the house. Even so, Serah ignored it and closed her eyes. The youngest pinkette couldn't be bothered with such things right now. Her heart hurt.

As a child, she often dreamt about the family she wanted when she was older. If given the choice, she'd have a boy and a girl, the boy first. With the boy being the older of the two, he'd protect his little sister from bullies and would chase away unworthy suitors. Serah laughed at that thought. While her current family was not quite like how she envisioned, it was her dream family. All except for one thing. A child of her own.

Clenching a fistful of blanket, Serah inwardly grimaced at the direction her thoughts had gone. Sighing again, the pinkette snuggled deeper into her bed, Serah silencing her mind to let sleep tug at her. But she would never get that far.

"WAAAAHHHHHH!"

Serah jerked upwards in surprise, falling off her bed in the process. She landed on her side with a thump. Pain instantly bit at her shoulder, but was soon forgotten as another wail sounded. With her heart hammering away in her chest, the youngest Farron fearfully peeked over the edge of her bed.

Serah's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of a sparkly blue silk, swirled in a circle mimicking some kind of bird's nest. The mass of cloth occupied the space to the right of where she once lay on the bed. Along with the nest of blue silk was a folded stand up card with her name written on it in bold scripted letters. The cries originated from the center of the blue material.

Standing up slowly and looking around, Serah rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Blinking, the youngest Farron looked back to the bed. The swirl of blue silk was still there, along with the card. Well, she wasn't hallucinating, at least, she didn't think she was. So Serah pinched herself.

"Ouch!"

Yep, she definitely wasn't imagining things. That pinch really hurt! Not to mention, the swirl of blue shifted every so often, usually in sync with the cries getting louder.

Gathering up all of her courage, Serah crawled onto the bed and slowly pulled back the layers of blue silk from the top of the material nest. Her eyes widened in surprise when she pulled back the last layer. There, in the middle amongst a bundle of white silk, was a chibi Eidolon. This particular Eidolon was garbed in baby blue, with white angel-like wings for hair. Unlike the other chibi Eidolons, this one was also much smaller, like a newborn of sorts. The diaper the little one wore was the biggest indication of that. Big, watery blue eyes looked up at Serah the moment the fabric was pulled back.

"Oh Siren!" Serah said, gently picking up the chibi Eidolon and cradling her to her chest. "Don't cry little one."

Serah immediately rocked the little Eidolon back and forth in her arms, humming a soft tune. How she knew the little one's name, Serah didn't know. All she knew was Siren was the most adorable thing she had ever set eyes on, especially when she sniffled. With her thumb, Serah wiped away the chibi's tears, giving her a smile.

"All better?"

Siren's answer was to cuddle against Serah's chest after a happy giggle, sucking on her thumb. Serah felt her heart bursting with happiness at that small action, tears of her own coming to her eyes. Sitting down on her bed, the pinkette stroked chibi Siren's hair earning another happy squeak.

Meanwhile, outside of Serah's house, stood Lightning leaning up against the wall near the front door. The front door was open just a crack, the soldier having witnessed Serah's joyful discovery as it happened. Slipping Etro's communicator back into her pocket and pulling the door gently shut, the eldest Farron made her way back up to her level of the house, smiling.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **__And Serah gets an Eidolon. ^^ You honestly didn't think I'd leave Serah out, did you? XD For those of you familiar with my Tainted Fal'Cie story, you'll recognize Siren from there._


	9. Not This Again

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: Hello there! And so we're back to finish up the Chibi Lightning arc. On a side note, Caius is probably a bit OOC in this chapter, but it was necessary._

_For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:_

_tlrc - Thanks for the review! ^^ I haven't come up with anything solid yet for a TF sequel, but I'm still thinking about it. So we'll see how that goes. ^^ Anyhow, Etro is like Santa huh? XD Hehe... I never thought about her that way. :P_

_Sparkxxx7 - Thanks for the review. ^^ I have to say, having Siren be Serah's Eidolon, I think that was one of my best ideas. :P The moment Siren appeared in my other FFXIII story, I just knew she'd be popping up in this one too. I still haven't come up with anything proper for a TF sequel, but I'm still thinking about it, so it may still be a future story yet. ^^_

_smilebear27 - Thanks for the review! ^^ Thanks for reading both Tainted Fal'Cie and Etro's Keepers. :) It's always wonderful to hear that readers enjoy my stories enough that they read the other stories I've written. I often write chapters/stories as if I had been watching them as a movie, rather than me actually thinking up the storyline. So to hear you see it that way too means I'm doing a decent job at that. :P As for the Tainted Fal'Cie sequel, I'm still thinking about it. Nothing solid has come to mind yet. If I do write a sequel to it, I want the sequel to top Tainted Fal'Cie in greatness. But seeing as how Tainted Fal'Cie turned out, it's a bit hard to think of something which can do that right now. lol. I'll let you know all know if I figure out something. I know you're not the only one wanting to hear more about it. :P_

_ClaireLightLightningclair - Thanks for the review. ^^ I'm glad you liked those chapters. If you ever do get around to drawing those scenes, I'd love to see them. :) Fear not, there will be more action scenes to come. Though, it is more likely you'll find them in the story's sequel. Thanks again. :)_

_The Tainted - Thanks for the comment. ^^ As requested, here's the updated. :)_

_Riku91 - Thanks for the review. ^^ As mentioned above, while I'm thinking about a TF sequel, I'm still having trouble thinking of something worth writing after TF. Lol. Nevertheless, I'll keep thinking about it and see what happens. XD As for this chapter, I too loved chibi Siren. You won't see much of her in this story unfortunately, but expect to see a lot more of her in the sequel to this. :P_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

* * *

><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 9: Not This Again <span>~ ***

"Maker," Chibi Lightning groaned. "Not this again."

* * *

><p><em>~ Just minutes ago. ~<em>

"Hey Lightnin'!"

The said chibi pinkette turned her head at the sound of her name. Chibi Lightning was currently on the couch in her house, sitting on Odin's lap, reading him a book. It surprised the chibi soldier how child-like her Eidolon was, in spite of his larger size. Nevertheless, Chibi Lightning was not one to deny her battle partner the simple things in life such as reading a book to him.

"Fang?" Chibi Lightning raised an eyebrow as the Pulsian huntress waltzed into her home as if she owned the place.

Fang grinned, unfazed by Chibi Lightning's look, twirling Etro's communicator between her fingers. "Ya got a call," she said stopping next to the couch, offering the device to the mini Farron.

Chibi Lightning set the book down temporarily, not missing the amused smirk the lancer gave her. She took the communicator from the huntress. "What?"

"Nothin'," Fang replied, with a twinkle still in her eye.

Blue eyes narrowed at Fang.

"I jus' never thought of ya as the motherly type Light," Fang said chuckling. "Readin' stories to Odin and all."

Chibi Lightning merely scoffed before putting her ear to the communicator and speaking into the handset. "This is Lightning."

"_Lightning~!_" came a sing song voice through the communicator.

Chibi Lightning cringed, already knowing exactly who it was.

"_Darling!_" Etro continued. "_I just got your message. Having a little problem, are we?_"

"You only got the message now?" Chibi Lightning's eyebrow twitched. "I left those voice mails more than a month ago!"

"_Did you really?_" There was some movement on the other side of the line, along with muffled voices before Etro's voice sailed through the headset again. "_You'll have to forgive my new secretary for that mix up,_" the Goddess said.

_Secretary? _Chibi Lightning glanced at Odin who merely shrugged at her.

"_Anyhoo,_" Etro said without missing a beat. "_Let me get that all fixed up for you. Is my dear Odin with you right now?_"

"Yes," Chibi Lightning replied stoically. "We were just-"

"_Good,_" Etro interrupted. "_See you both soon!_"

Before Chibi Lightning could even ask Fang what that was all about, there was a flash of light and Chibi Lightning, along with Odin, found themselves somewhere else.

Chibi Lightning groaned.

* * *

><p><em>~ Back to the present. ~<em>

Chibi Lightning and Odin now resided in Etro's house. Or rather, whatever place gods and goddesses called home. It looked to be the waiting area of the place, if the lack of anything personal to the Goddess was any indication. White walls bordered with circular lights lined the room, floor to ceiling windows breaking up the long corridors. Outside was a world Chibi Lightning had never seen before, twin towers with spiralling green structures on top of them shooting towards the sky. The skyscraper-like buildings were amongst what appeared to be an extensive city, spanning from horizon to horizon. The sky itself was dark and desolate, yet it did not rain. Behind the white leather couch they sat on, stood a statue of Etro, as depicted in the few datalogues Lightning had read about her.

Everything looked different from the last time Chibi Lightning was here. She was her normal size back then, Etro being quite childish in stealing her Guard Corps. uniform and returning her naked, much to the shock of her family. She still had yet to get back that particular uniform, Chibi Lightning cringing at the thought of what the Goddess was doing with it. The tiny pinkette was very particular about her things. She hated it when people took her stuff and never returned it.

Chibi Lightning stared at the man on the other side of the room, sitting behind a white marble desk. He stared back at her, a scowl creasing his features. The small soldier could only assume this was the new secretary the Goddess had mentioned while on the communicator prior, for he certainly wasn't here the last time. Though, why he of all people was Etro's secretary, Chibi Lightning didn't know. He certainly didn't look like secretary material.

The man donned a black, form fitting armor, with purple highlights. Silvery violet hair ran well past his shoulders, held back by a headband adorned with feathers. Behind the man, hanging on the wall, was an enormous sword with a purple eye-like jewel near the hilt. Chibi Lightning silently wondered just how heavy that intricately designed weapon was. The man didn't seem strong enough to wield the massive blade, but then again, looks could be deceiving. On the white marble desk in front of the man was a stand up gold plated name plaque which read 'Caius Ballad.'

Chibi Lightning hummed to herself. Caius was a warrior, there was no question in her mind about that. The way he sat, the way he carried himself, showed great discipline, leaving tiny pinkette to wonder what it would be like to fight the man. While Chibi Lightning was not to type to go looking for fights, she wouldn't deny the frustration she often felt due to the lack of worthy sparring partners around. That mattered little right now she supposed. Chibi Lightning was currently wracking her brain for the reason of Caius being here in the first place. Just what the heck was he doing here as the Goddess' secretary? She could only wonder about the circumstances under which he agreed to serve the Goddess. Knowing Etro, he was probably caught up in some trick of the deity and forced to work here.

Never the patient type, Chibi Lightning decided to check in with the secretary, hoping it would speed up the process to return her and Odin back to normal. Etro probably knew they were here, waiting for her (it was the Goddess who brought them both over here in the first place after all), but then again, Etro was a weird one. And that was putting things lightly.

Chibi Lightning slid off of Odin's lap and jumped off the white couch. Striding over to the desk on the other end of the room, she opened her mouth to speak, but Caius beat her too it.

"I know why you're here," the man said, his voice bitter and hateful. "And I already know your name, so you need not waste your breath in repeating it."

Chibi Lightning's eyebrow twitched, the tiny soldier clenching her jaw. She absolutely hated it when people interrupted her, she hated it when they spoke over her and talked down to her like this Caius Ballad was doing right now. Chibi Lightning crossed her arms over her chest and glared. Aside from the man's obvious lack of respect, there was something else that bothered her greatly about him. But she didn't know what it was.

Caius smirked.

Chibi Lightning made a fist, the small crackles of a Thundaga beginning to spark off of her fist. Etro's secretary narrowed his eyes at her and slowly reached back for his sword.

"You cannot kill me," Caius said. "Not now."

Tiny blue eyes narrowed. "Shall we test that theory?"

Thankfully, Etro chose that exact moment to make an appearance, ruining the moment. If the Goddess hadn't, who knows what might have happened.

"Lightning! There you are!" Etro said, whooshing into the room in her typical ghost-like fashion. "I'm glad you could make it."

Glad? Who was Etro kidding? It wasn't like Chibi Lightning had a choice. But before the mini pinkette could respond, Chibi Lightning was swept off her feet and hugged tightly to Goddess' well endowed chest. The tiny soldier was quickly becoming red faced, her head being smothered between the Goddess' corporeal yet somehow solid bouncy chest. Maker! This was like a repeat of when she first turned chibi. Chibi Lightning still hadn't forgotten about Vanille's fetish for squeezing the life out of her. Just what was it with everyone wanting to hug her like that? Really?

"Sorry to keep you waiting, my dear," Etro said, finally giving Chibi Lightning some room to breathe. "I had some paradoxes to unravel."

"Paradoxes?" Chibi Lightning repeated.

A snort. "Perhaps those wouldn't have happened had _someone_ not twisted the timeline around on a whim."

Chibi Lightning glared at Caius. The more he talked, the more she wanted to put him in his place. Don't even ask her why she was acting rather protective of the Goddess.

"Oh, don't mind my new secretary," Etro said, dismissively waving at the violet haired man. "He hasn't gotten in touch with his feminine side yet. But he will. Won't you C-Ball?" The Goddess smiled sweetly at Caius.

"C-C-Ball?" Purple eyes flashed in fury. Caius jumped up from his chair, slamming his palms down on his desk. "How many times must I tell you! My name is Caius Ballad! CAIUS! BALLAD! Not C-Ball!"

Etro chuckled. "I know that silly," she said. "But saying Caius Ballad all the time is boring. Not to mention long. So I shortened it to C-Ball. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think C-Ball?"

"Now listen here-"

"Odin honey! Come to Mama."

Chibi Lightning squeaked again, quickly finding herself on the ground and on her bum. It seemed the Goddess had an attention span of a two year old, or perhaps some sort of attention disorder, considering how fast she jumped around to things. Chibi Lightning wondered if she was like this during her other duties, whatever a goddess' duties were.

Odin did as he was told and wandered over to Etro, standing a good head taller than the Goddess. Chibi Lightning grumbled, picking herself up from the floor, dusting off her skirt.

"How's my handsome boy?" Etro said, hugging the white knight.

Chibi Lightning sighed, rubbing her face. Somewhere behind her, Caius had settled down and resorted to grumbling under his breath as the Goddess coddled her son. As touching as this reunion was, Chibi Lightning had no intention of spending the rest of her day watching this, and cleared her throat.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?"

The Goddess laughed, as if remembering the real reason she brought Chibi Lightning and Odin here today. "Of course," the deity said. With the snap of her fingers, it was done. Lightning was turned back to her original size, as was Chibi Odin.

Lightning blinked. "That's it?" she asked incredulously. "Just like that?"

"Indeed," Etro said flashing a smile. She currently held Chibi Odin in her arms, stroking his head.

"You couldn't have just done that the moment we were switched? Or when I spoke to you on the communicator?"

Etro laughed again. "Lightning darling-"

"Don't call me that!"

A deep, booming laugh sounded, causing Lightning to clench her fists. The pinkette took a deep breath, counting backwards in her head to calm herself. Oh how she wished she had her gunblade with her now.

Etro continued onwards as if not hearing her secretary. "I didn't even realize you were switched until a couple of moments of ago when I finally got your message."

"I left you multiple messages over a month ago!" Lightning exclaimed.

Etro smiled. "In Valhalla, time flows differently," the Goddess said. "Months and years for you are mere seconds and minutes for me."

Lightning blinked in surprise, clearly having never thought of that.

"As for why that happened all in the first place," Etro continued. "Lindzei decided to play a nasty trick on his older sister, that being me, and ended up changing around a few things in the Seen World as a result."

"Lindzei?" Lightning said in disbelief. "As in _the _Lindzei? The one who created Cocoon?"

"The one and only," Etro said with a chuckle. "But don't worry, he won't be doing anything like that again. And the Adamantoises are no longer dancing the Macarena in the Steepe."

"Wha-what?"

Before Lightning could even ask what the goddess meant, something akin to a scream, a squawk, a squeak and a rumble combined together sounded in some far away back room.

Lightning shivered at that sound, a chill going down her spine. Caius face palmed.

Etro burst out in a fit of giggles. "I see Lindzei has found the little present I left for him." More giggles.

Lightning sighed. What in the Maker had she gotten herself into?

"Anyhoo," Etro said, after recovering from her giggles. "I still have some remodelling of the timeline to do because of that one over there." The Goddess nodded in Caius' direction. The secretary glared at her. "So I'll just send you both back to the Seen World now. Tata!"

A wave, a flash of light and a buzz later, Lightning and Chibi Odin were returned to Lightning's house. Fang looked at the pair curiously, having waited for their return.

"So how did it go?" the Pulsian asked. She already knew by the look on Lightning's face things hadn't turned out to her liking. But she still had to ask anyway. Teasing the soldier was always so much fun.

Lightning groaned. "You don't want to know."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Yep, this chapter is a nod at FFXIII-2. Hehe. I don't know how I came up with the idea of Caius being Etro's secretary, but the moment I did, I just couldn't leave it out. :P_

_For those of you curious, Etro's waiting room is essentially the Narthex. The world outside of it is Valhalla. Those of you who've read my Tainted Fal'Cie story will recognize the description from there. _

_On another note, I wasn't quite as happy with this chapter. While I have some idea of what Etro's personality is like, I still find it difficult to capture her in a face to face conversation. (I left her physical description intentionally vague because of that). I also found I didn't have a good enough grasp of Caius character which probably was the reason he came out as OOC. I apologize for the decreased quality of this chapter._


	10. Welcome Home

**Etro's Keepers**

_**A/N**__: And the last chapter of this story is up! Yep, this is indeed the final chapter. Fear not, the sequel is still in the works. ;)_

_**Disclaimer**__: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them._

* * *

><p>*** ~ <span>Chapter 10: Welcome Home <span>~ ***

"Claire!" shouted a red faced Serah. "I did not do that when I was younger!"

A round of laughs went around, much to Serah's horror, Lightning having just recounted to the rest of the family an embarrassing tale from Serah's days as a toddler.

"Well, well, well..." Fang said cheekily. "I never realized mini Farron was such a terror in her younger days. An' here I thought ya were the innocent one."

"But I am the innocent one!" Serah exclaimed, mortified. "That was all Claire's fault!"

More laughing.

A whole year had passed since Fang, Vanille and the chibi Eidolons returned to the family. While it took some time, soon enough, the daily escapades with the chibis became second nature to everyone. Even Lightning.

"Don't feel bad, Serah," Hope said. "You should hear some of the things Fang did as a child."

"What?" Fang almost squawked. "What the hell are ya talkin' about?" The Pulsian huntress glanced at her partner. Vanille smiled guiltily. "Vanille... Jus' what have ya been tellin' everyone?"

Through trials and tribulations, through the good and the bad, they had all become a close knit family, one large family of which none could be closer. Never in a million years did they think they would be split apart again. But they would be. Today.

"Oh just a little something here and there," Vanille said slyly. "You know, like the time you woke up half asleep and thought the Matron's slippers were-"

"Vanille!" Fang exclaimed, an noticeable flush on her cheeks. "Ya went around tellin' people about that?"

"Oh?" Snow said grinning. "I don't think I've heard that story. Care to tell it again?"

"She will bloody hell not!"

A knock sounded amongst the chorus of laughs, Fang reaching over to grab her redheaded partner before Vanille could spill anymore of her most secret secrets. Lightning, being the one closest to the door, decided to answer the knock, despite Fang and Vanille acting as the hosts to this family get together. Upon opening the door, Lightning quickly wished she hadn't.

"Claire?" Serah looked at the door when her sister failed to return. "Who is it?"

A warm chuckle floated through the air, causing all of the chibi Eidolons to stop whatever they were doing to look in that direction. The moment they did, squees and squeals erupted and the minis went racing towards the person standing opposite Lightning. Lightning took a step back, revealing the guest at the door.

"G-Goddess?" Vanille almost gasped, she and Fang jumping to their feet upon sight of the deity. The rest of the family looked at their guest in confusion, especially as all of the chibis were now jumping up and down around the woman's feet trying to talk to her all at once.

"Claire?" Serah walked over to her sister, having still received no response.

Lightning was deathly silent, her fists clenched at her sides. This concerned the youngest pinkette greatly, especially the expression on the soldier's face. Serah hadn't seen that expression for years, not since they were children.

"Claire?" Serah repeated, placing a hand on her sister's arm. She squeezed gently. "What is it?"

Lightning swallowed thickly, reluctantly meeting the gaze of her sister. "It's time..." was all she said.

Serah frowned. Lightning was struggling. The soldier was struggling not to reveal more of the emotions that had already begun squeezing past her barriers.

"Time for what, Claire? I don't understand."

"It's time for me to take the little ones home," Etro replied, giving Serah a warm smile. "I've come to pick up my children."

* * *

><p>Fang watched in silent sadness as the rest of the family said their final goodbyes to the chibi Eidolons. Over the past year, the little ones had grown on them all, especially Lightning. Never once did they think this day would come, and so soon.<p>

"Here's your coat, Brynhildr," Sazh said with tears in his eyes. As much as his heart ached, the old man forced a smile and put on a brave front. "Just in case it gets cold, wherever you are."

Fang smiled slightly, knowing how difficult it was for the gunner to lose what felt like another one of his children. This time a daughter.

"It's been fun, hasn't it, Alexander?" Hope stooped down, doing his best not to cry as he handed his mini Eidolon all of the art supplies his battle partner had collected over the time they spent together. Chibi Alexander looked at up Hope for a moment, before dropping his supplies to the ground and rushing up to the silver haired teen to hug him.

"Now girls," Snow began. "You be good and don't cause you're Mom any trouble now." The blonde behemoth grinned, giving his last advice to Chibi Stiria and Chibi Nix. Both of them clutched at their stuffed Snow dolls tightly, Snow patting them on the head affectionately. Despite his jovial appearance, Fang could see the tightness around his mouth and his clenched jaw. She could also see his white knuckled fist, one of which he hid behind his back.

Vanille sniffled to Fang's right, the redhead hugging Chibi Hecatoncheir to her chest, not wanting to ever let go. "If you need more wool for knitting, just pop by here anytime and I'll have more ready for you, okay?"

Chibi Hecatoncheir gave a subdued squeak, brushing away Vanille's tears with a few of his hands. It depressed the chibi to see his battle partner cry.

Looking to her left, Fang found Serah, the youngest pinkette having equally the amount of trouble Vanille was of letting her chibi Eidolon go.

"And she likes a story read to her every night," Serah told Etro as she handed the Goddess Siren's things. "Siren's very particular about the shampoo you use on her hair too," Serah continued. "Baby shampoo works best as anything stronger makes her cry when it gets into her eyes."

Turning back to her own battle partner, Fang knew it was about time she said goodbye too. "Be good for ya Ma, ya here me?" the lancer said, giving Chibi Bahamut a lopsided smile. Emerald coloured eyes glanced at the mini googles on the chibi's head. Leaning closer to her tiny battle partner, Fang whispered. "I know ya like me more, but still, be nice."

Chibi Bahamut giggled before giving her a hug. But rather than break the hug right away, the mini black dragon held onto her tighter, causing Fang to purse her lips.

"I'll miss ya too Bahamut," Fang said, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

Lightning and Chibi Odin watched as the others said their goodbyes to each other, the other chibis eventually collecting around Etro's feet. The only exception to that was Chibi Siren, the little one taking up residence in her mother's arms. When all the minis had gathered by Etro, except of a certain chibi white knight, all eyes turned to the pair. Lightning closed her eyes and sighed.

"Right."

Stooping down, the soldier turned to face Chibi Odin, the tiny Eidolon originally standing next to her on the floor. In his arms was the hand made pillow and sleeping bag Lightning made for him for Wintersday. Looking down at the small white knight, the soldier found herself at a loss for words. The look on Chibi Odin's face was just heartbreaking, the mini Eidolon clearly not wanting to leave his battle partner's side just yet.

Lightning swallowed thickly. "I guess it's time for you to go home now," she managed to say.

A pitiful mewl.

Lightning clenched her jaw, feeling her eyes burn and water. "Odin, don't give me that look." A forced chuckle. "This is your mother we're talking about here. Not the boogie man."

Lightning smiled. The boogie man. That was Chibi Odin's excuse for climbing into bed with her every night. Not because he was cold or because the couch was too hard to sleep on, it was because the boogie man could jump out of the shadows and take him away to somewhere scary. Apparently, sleeping close to Lightning (if not on her chest) made the chibi knight feel safe.

Chibi Odin reached out and grabbed a tight hold of Lightning's arm sleeve. He stared at Lightning's arm, tears in his eyes.

"Odin..."

The rest of the family watched on in silence as the chibi white knight clung to Lightning's arm. It made no difference that his hands were full. Fang marvelled at the sight, unconsciously noting how much Lightning had changed over the past year, how much all of them changed over the past year. They had the chibi Eidolons to thank for that.

"Hey," Lightning said, drawing Chibi Odin's attention back to her face again. "Don't be like that," she said. "It's not like we won't see each other again."

Lightning knew that to be a lie. She knew it the moment Etro appeared on the other side of the door this morning. But even so, the soldier wanted her last memory with her chibi battle partner to be a happy one. And she would make sure it was be a happy one for him too.

"You know," Lightning continued. "You have a very important duty to fulfil."

A confused squeak.

Lightning smiled, her gaze turning to the other chibis waiting near to Etro. "As I won't be able to watch over you and your siblings anymore, now that job is left to you."

Chibi Odin's eyes widened in surprise.

"They'll be looking up to you now, to keep them safe, and to help them along their way." Reaching into her red side pouch slowly, Lightning felt around for one particular item as she continued to talk.

"There are not many people, or Eidolons, who could handle such responsibility. Nor are there many that I would trust with it."

Finding the desired item, Lightning's fingers curled around the object and she pulled her hand out of her pouch. "Can I entrust this duty to you, newly promoted Sergeant Odin?"

From her red side pouch, Lightning pulled out a chibi-sized green metallic pauldron, the yellow stripes on it signifying the rank of Sergeant. It was an exact replica of Lightning's shoulder pauldron except sized for Chibi Odin.

Serah's hands went up to her mouth as she gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks at the sight. Lightning went on to strap the tiny shoulder pauldron over Chibi Odin's left shoulder and saluted him. Stunned at first, Chibi Odin quickly smiled and returned a sloppy salute of his own, trying his best to mimic his battle partner.

"Congratulations Sergeant Odin," Lightning said, dropping her hand to her side, Chibi Odin following suit. "I'm relieved to know this duty is left in capable hands."

Chibi Odin looked down at his left shoulder for a moment, before taking in a deep breath and puffing his chest out. He gave a happy squeak. Lightning smiled at this, soon after nodding towards Etro and the other chibis. "Go on now," she said. "The others are waiting for you."

* * *

><p>"Claire?"<p>

Lightning looked up at the sound of her name. "Serah..."

The soldier currently sat on the edge of her bed, Chibi Odin's handmade Eidolith Crystal in her hand. Once Etro and the chibis vanished from sight, Lightning was the first of the family to disperse, citing she had some things to do before dinner in preparation for her early patrol tomorrow morning. In truth, the pinkette couldn't stand being in Fang and Vanille's house a moment longer, not when the memories of Chibi Odin leaving, again, were still so fresh.

"Aren't you supposed to be hanging out with the others?"

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for patrol?" Serah retorted.

"Touche," Lightning said with a small smile.

Serah closed the door behind her, wandering over to Lightning's bed. She sat down next to her sister. "Is that Odin's crystal?"

"Yeah," Lightning said, nodding slightly. Looking back to the quartz carving again, Lightning swallowed back the lump in her throat, once again feeling her eyes burn and water.

"It feels... different..." Serah said softly, looking around the rest of Lightning's house. "Quiet," she clarified.

"Too quiet," Lightning chimed in. She made a fist, clenching the Eidolith crystal tightly in her hand.

Small arms wrapped around Lightning's shoulders, Serah pulling her sister towards her for a hug. The moment Lightning's cheek touched Serah's shoulder, the dam broke and the tears fell.

"I miss them too," Serah said, stroking her the eldest Farron's hair soothingly. Lightning trembled in her arms. Serah ignored the wetness soaking the left shoulder of her shirt, continuing to sit there quietly, hugging her the soldier.

"You've changed."

* * *

><p>Lightning barely got any sleep that night, the soldier grumbling when the sun washed over her face the next morning. Rolling over onto her side, she turned her back to the window and pulled her pillow over her head. Screw patrol. She wasn't going to do it today. It wasn't like there was anything to do on patrol anyway. On occasion, a few roaming monsters had to be dealt with when they ventured a bit too close to town, but beyond that, nothing ever happened.<p>

Something poked her on the arm.

"Go away, Serah," Lightning mumbled under her pillow. "I'm not going on patrol today."

Of all the days she wanted to sleep in, it had to be the day Serah got up before her, reminding her about her morning patrol.

More poking on the arm.

"I said leave me alone, Serah," Lightning grumbled. "Go bother Snow or something." Lightning still refused to move the pillow from her head.

Even more poking. This time followed by a squeak.

"Serah-"

Lightning froze.

A squeak?

The oldest pinkette bolted upwards in bed, her pillow tumbling to the floor as the blanket crumpled around her waist. Blue eyes quickly scanned her house, immediately locking onto the movement at the edge of the bed. Lightning watched as something small and white untangled itself from her sheets, shearing the material cleanly into two with a jagged S-blade. Slashed material fluttered down to the ground next to the bed to reveal none other than Chibi Odin.

A happy squeak.

"O-Odin?"

Before anything further could be said or done, there was the stomping of feet up the metal staircase leading to her level before the door to Lightning's house burst open and a hyper Serah barrelled through.

"Claire! They're back!" Serah exclaimed. "They're back!"

The youngest Farron raced up to Lightning's bedside, waving what appeared to be Etro's communicator in Lightning's face. Chibi Odin giggled at Serah's enthusiasm, Lightning looking between him and her ecstatic sister in a daze. Serah talked a mile a minute, but as Lightning was still half asleep and not quite awake, she could barely comprehend what her sister was going on and on about. Something about Etro and the chibi Eidolons and watching over them a bit longer.

Chibi Odin watched in rapt fascination as Serah continued her excited recollection of Etro's voice mail message, complete with hand gestures and everything. Lightning couldn't but smile at her younger sister, having already put the pieces together with Chibi Odin's appearance. Looking down at the chibi knight next to her on the bed, Lightning's eyes focused on the green shoulder pauldron Chibi Odin proudly wore. Then two small hands gripped at her shoulders and shook her with surprising strength.

"Isn't this exciting Claire!" Serah said, smiling brightly. "Well come on, say something! After all of this time, don't you have something you want to say to Odin?"

Lightning blinked for a few seconds, realizing her sister was waiting for an answer. Looking back down at Chibi Odin once more, Lightning smiled. The tiny white knight smiled back. Despite thinking she'd never see him again, Lightning knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"Welcome home, Odin."

END

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Sorry if this ending seems abrupt. This story started off as an experiment and I never anticipated it would get so popular. But fear not, it's not over, so to speak. The sequel to this story will be coming out in the next few weeks and will continue the shenanigans involving the chibi Eidolons. So keep an eye out for it! And thanks for reading!_


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